Arizona freshman guard Brandon Williams is out indefinitely because of his injured right knee and will not play this week against the Washington schools, UA coach Sean Miller said on his radio show Monday.
Miller said he was hopeful the Wildcats “can get him back at some point” and said it would be hard for the Wildcats to win a game without him, according to accounts of Miller’s radio show by Arizona Desert Swarm and Goazcats.com.
As a high school player, Williams had a congenital issue in the right knee that cost him most of calendar 2017, and Miller said after the UA lost at ASU on Thursday that he wasn’t sure if the current setback was related.
“I don’t know. It’s that knee,” Miller said. “I think time will tell.”
Williams posted a tweet Monday night that said: “Control the things you can control.”
After starting to experience pain with the knee before his junior season in 2016-17, Williams had surgery in January 2017 to correct a congenital issue in which bone beneath the cartilage of a joint dies due to lack of blood flow. The issue, known as osteochondritis dissecans, sometimes results in bone and cartilage breaking free and causing pain or restricted motion.
Williams rehabbed the knee for over 10 months, then finished his high school senior season without issue but has twice run into trouble with the knee this season: On Jan. 14 he bruised it in practice and was limited against Baylor the next day, Miller said, while he then experienced issues after the UA’s game at UCLA on Jan. 26.
ESPN reported during its telecast of Thursday’s UA-ASU game that Williams was experiencing “significant pain and swelling” with the right knee, but his stepfather, Chris Wright ,told the Star on Friday that Williams has not suffered any swelling since the UCLA game.
Wright said Williams did have swelling after every game he played during the 2016 EYBL travel-ball circuit, before he had surgery to correct the issue, though he still managed to play well.
“All I know is the symptom is totally different,” Wright said. “Swelling after each game in EYBL. No swelling at all since UCLA game.”
Williams has been Arizona’s leading scorer in Pac-12 games, averaging 13.8 points and 3.5 assists in conference play, while overall this season he’s averaging 12.4 points and has posted a 2.2-1 assist-turnover ratio.
“It’s devastating in so many ways,” Miller said on his show, according to Arizona Desert Swarm, “but especially for Brandon because he’s worked hard, he’s been consistent in practice, and for him to experience an injury and to be shut down right now is disappointing.”
Without Williams, UA will likely seek more offense from point guard Justin Coleman while also counting on wings Brandon Randolph and Dylan Smith. Williams’ loss also means sophomore Alex Barcello will likely become the Wildcats’ backup point guard, since Williams had been shifting over to the point when Coleman was off the floor.
The Wildcats will have to host first-place Washington on Thursday in their first game without Williams, then face Washington State on Saturday. Next week, UA will travel to play Utah and Colorado.
Miller did not express optimism about how any of those games might play out without Williams.
“It’s going to be hard for us to win a game with I think the limitations that we have at the moment,” Miller said. “We have to keep working and get better, have great days of practice and individual players have to keep improving.”
Rim shots
Washington forward Noah Dickerson is in doubt for this weekend after spraining an ankle Saturday against UCLA but Huskies coach Mike Hopkins said he thought Dickerson would be “fine” after treating it this week.
- UA signee Nico Mannion scored 57 points and hit the game-winning shot in Pinnacle High School’s 91-88 win over Chaparral on Friday during Pinnacle’s senior night.
- Oregon State’s Tres Tinkle was named the Pac-12’s Player of the Week on Monday after leading the Beavers to their first road sweep in 10 years. During OSU’s wins at Utah (81-72) and Colorado (76-74), Tinkle averaged 25.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
