After fearing 'it was over,' Arizona guard Kerr Kriisa says he'll play in NCAA Tournament

Kerr Kriisa showed up tired and still a little sore for a short media interview session Tuesday, but he probably couldn’t be happier.

Because now the Arizona point guard says he expects to play in the NCAA Tournament this weekend after seeing how his ankle splayed out at a 90-degree ankle late in Arizona’s win over Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals, dealing him a significant sprain that kept him out for the Wildcats’ semifinal and championship game wins.

“I was scared that it's over because I’ve never had that bad of a sprain,” Kriisa said. “I felt like my leg was a completely different direction and I was scared to look down… But we went straight after to take X-rays and when I found out that nothing was breaking, J Rock (athletic trainer Justin Kokoskie) told me that `We’ve just got to work on it. You will play,” then happy tears came on my face. It was a good moment.”

It was a good moment that led to a lot of work and not a lot of sleep. Kriisa said he and Kokoskie have done some “crazy stuff that I’ve never seen before,” with Kokoskie giving him a break to nap only between 3-5 p.m. on Monday. 

“I haven't really had rest,” Kriisa said. “I'm pretty tired from this rehab stuff. I want to get to get healthy and just practice and play with my brothers.”

Kokoskie confirmed via text that Kriisa has been otherwise sleeping only between midnight and 8 a.m, and putting in 14 hours a day in rehabilitation efforts. Kriisa's ankle sprain is different than the high ankle sprain teammate Azuolas Tubelis suffered on Jan. 20 but both injuries could normally sideline a player for three weeks or more.

"He's working his ass off!!!" Kokoskie wrote. "Great kid!! Proud of him!!"

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In the meantime, Kriisa has tried to have a little fun with it. He posted photos of his ankle to Twitter on both Sunday and Monday, sharing all his purple bruises and swelling with the world and prompting UA coach Tommy Lloyd to joke on his radio show that fans probably knew more about the ankle than he did as a result.

“I’m not on social media and apparently, every step of his rehab has been public disclosure,” Lloyd said, chuckling. “I can’t make any crazy predictions but I know right now he’s preparing like he’s gonna play. We’ll see how close he gets to that and we’ll make a decision as we approach game time.”

The Wildcats are scheduled to open against the winner of a 16-seed First Four matchup between Bryant and Wright State, so they could opt to sit Kriisa out and, if they win, reintroduce him on Sunday against either TCU or Seton Hall.

But whatever the case, Kerr’s already made his decision. Both in his body and his mind.

He’s playing.

“Of course,” he said. “If I wouldn't think (I could) then probably my leg wouldn't be healing as good. It's all mental. You’ve got to believe. I'm believing and it is going in good direction right now.”

Freelancer John McKelvey contributed to this report.