Before he can return to the Arizona Wildcats, freshman wing Brandon Randolph must clear a series of post-concussion hurdles.
First, as documented in the UA’s concussion recovery guidelines, he’ll need to try out some light aerobic training and see how that goes after getting hit in the head during a practice Saturday, then test himself in some basketball activity without impact.
If that’s OK, Randolph can try some non-contact practice work with teammates, then go fully in practices.
Finally, if Randolph clears tests again after all that, he can return to games.
That progression, and Arizona’s past timing on concussion recoveries, suggests Randolph is questionable at best for UA’s season opener on Friday against NAU and maybe even its Sunday game against University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Usually, UA players are held out for at least a week following a concussion; point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright missed four games over two weeks when he suffered one in 2014-15 against Oregon.
“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,” UA coach Sean Miller said Sunday, after the UA beat Chico State 91-53 in its final exhibition game.
And if he’s not quite there yet this weekend, considering how Arizona played in its 91-53 dismantling of Chico State on Sunday, that’s probably fine with the Wildcats, too.
Also playing without Dylan Smith (unspecified team violation) and Rawle Alkins (broken foot) on Sunday, the UA still managed to easily drub its highly regarded Division II opponent.
“All we think is we have to go out here and hoop, so we’re not really thinking that deep about it,” guard Allonzo Trier said of the UA’s missing players. “We’re excited to go play, and coach is telling us we’ve only got four perimeter players, so we’ve gotta be smart, can’t foul, gotta execute, we have to play well.
“Coach is very good at getting the message across to us.”
Miller may have to remind them again on Friday. Smith will still be out for the final game of his suspension , while Alkins will be out for at least another two or three weeks with his broken foot and Randolph will likely still be under concussion protocol.
“Hopefully, his symptoms will leave him,” Miller said of Randolph. “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.”
If Randolph is out again Friday, that leaves only Trier, Emmanuel Akot and Alex Barcello to play on the wing.
Again, probably not an issue for this bunch. Trier and Akot each played 33 minutes Sunday, while Barcello played 22, with about 10 of those minutes off the ball.
“We’re just gonna go out there with the guys that we have, and we’ll be ready for what we’re supposed to do when it’s time to step on the court,” Trier said.
“We’re a talented team. We’re deep. We have that saying, ‘Next man up.’ So one goes down, the next guy steps up. It’s your opportunity to really help the team and be effective.”
Trier a preseason
AP All-American
Trier was named to The Associated Press’ five-man All-American team on Monday, getting the third-most votes behind Michigan State’s Miles Bridges and Notre Dame’s Bonzie Colson.
Trier picked up 39 votes, while teammate Deandre Ayton was one of 11 other players receiving votes, with three.
Also on the All-American team were Villanova’s Jalen Brunson and Missouri’s Michael Porter Jr., while North Carolina’s Joel Berry II was the leading vote-getter to not make it.
The UA could face Brunson and Villanova in the final day of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament on Nov. 24 in the Bahamas.
Trier, Ayton make
top player watch list
Also Monday, Trier and Ayton were among 32 players named to the watch list for the Oscar Robertson Award, the national player-of-the-year honor of the United States Basketball Writers Association.
Brunson was also named to the list, as were three players who will definitely face the Wildcats this season: USC’s Chimezie Metu, Stanford’s Reid Travis and Texas A&M’s Robert Williams.
Chico State zone
good prep for Cats
Since the UA is likely to face plenty of zone defense by teams struggling to deal with Ayton this season, Miller was glad to see Chico State use some on Sunday — and see the Wildcats move the ball well against it.
Arizona shot 65.3 percent and hit 7 of 13 3-pointers against Chico State and set up 21 of its 32 made field goals with assists.
“I thought we really handled the zone well,” Miller said.
“We’ve spent a lot of time this summer trying to get organized and get our team more confident and be more efficient, put players in the right positions and make sure the ball is able to move.
“That’s what we love about Chico State: They give you different looks and it was good for our guys to get out there and play against a zone.”
