Based on Arizona's previous concussion treatment plans, Brandon Randolph is questionable at best for the Wildcats’ season opener on Friday against NAU.
A UA spokesman said Randolph suffered the injury in practice Saturday and the standard protocol has been for a player to sit out at least a week and then see if any symptoms remain.
That suggests Randolph may not be available for the opener and UA’s Nov. 12 game with UMBC.
“We’ll know more over the next couple of days, but hopefully his symptoms will leave him,” Miller said Sunday, after UA beat Chico State in its final exhibition game. “We’re not going to put him out there if he has any symptoms and he has to be completely free of all symptoms to play.”
Miller said he wanted Randolph to be able to practice without concussion symptoms before he returns, so even if Randolph is cleared by Friday he may need to work through a Saturday practice to be cleared for the UMBC game. Or he may practice into the following week and try to get cleared for UA’s Nov. 16 game against Bakersfield (when he’ll likely be needed the most anyway).
“We don’t really know if he’ll be able to go on Friday but assuming that all goes well right around that time he should be good,” Miller said.
UA also lost a practice player to a concussion early last season when the redshirting Dylan Smith slipped and hit his head in a practice last November. Parker Jackson-Cartwright also missed four games over three weekends as a freshman in 2014-15 after suffering a concussion when he collided with the elbow of Oregon’s Dillon Brooks.
Except for two missed free throws, Jackson-Cartwright’s box score line against Chico State was flawless: He hit all four shots he took from the field, including two 3-pointers, while grabbing three rebounds, collecting two steals and posting four assists to two turnovers.
At one point in the second half, after Allonzo Trier couldn’t finish Jackson-Cartwright’s alley-oop pass, PJC picked it up off the glass and put it back in himself.
None of this surprised Miller.
“He’s the senior point guard. He’s a pass-first point guard,” Miller said. “He’s been in a lot of big games, a lot of big moments. He’s fought through adversity and injuries, been a part of three very good teams, two championship teams and you just can’t take for granted that type of experience.
“He knows what to do and how to do it. He sets the tone for our team. His style was also great for the rest of the group because he’s a much different player than the rest of the guys. He finds people.”
Behind the scenes, Miller said, Jackson-Cartwright has also “made a big difference” while practicing against freshman Alex Barcello.
“Practicing against Parker every day, talking to him all the time, Alex is starting to really come on,” Miller said. “I’m really pleased with the way he played tonight.”
Barcello had seven points on 3-for-7 shooting, plus three assists to one turnover in 22 minutes, playing alongside PJC at times.
There’s little question that just about everyone is liable to throw out some zone defense this season in an effort to slow Deandre Ayton and the Wildcats, and Miller said he thought his players handled well the zone that Chico State used Sunday.
“We’ve spent a lot of time this summer trying to get organized and get our team more confident and more efficienct, put players in the right positions and make sure that the ball is able to move,” Miller said. “I’m glad that the ball was able to move. That’s what we love about playing Chico State is they give you different looks and it was good for our guys to play against a zone.”
While Ayton’s offensive skills are pretty obvious, the role he’s been put in defensively could help quickly develop him on that side of the ball.
“He makes mistakes but his intent always good,” Miller said. “It’s not easy at 7 foot, 260 pounds to move like he moves on the court and a lot of guys his size are only going to guard the five so they’ll only guard centers.
“The way we’re playing, he guards the other team’s four when Dusan (Ristic) is at the five. We were asking him tonight at his size to guard a guy who’s 6-5, 6-6 and can really shoot the 3. But I think the more you challenge him the more he'll grow and with his growth defensively he’ll really give our team a lot of good characteristics.”
Trier’s 22-point, four-assist performance with 7-for-9 shooting is the kind of outing Miller hopes to see on a regular basis this season after a hand injury cost him a month in 2015-16 and a PED test cost him 19 games last season.
“Part of having a great year is you keep playing -- you’re not out for a week, or a couple of weeks,” Miller said. “So knock on wood. We want him to be with us from start to finish and if he’s able to do that I think he’ll put together an all-American type of season.”
The game story and box score are attached to this post.
