Arizona freshman guard Kerr Kriisa suffered a concussion on top of his broken nose in practice last Wednesday, adding more doubt over whether he'll be able to play once his eligibility is restored on Feb. 6.
UA coach Sean Miller indicated Wednesday that Kriisa's concussion symptoms didn't show up right away when he broke his nose but it is now clear that he'll have to recover from both injuries. Kriisa has been ineligible because of arrangements he had made to play with a professional club in Lithuania but the NCAA cleared him to play starting at Colorado on Feb. 6.
"Sometimes the concussion symptoms don't show up exactly when the break happens," Miller said. "He's not been able to practice ... and we don't have a timetable on when or if he's going to be able to return."
UA faced a similar situation last season, when forward Stone Gettings suffered a concussion in the Wooden Legacy but Miller said his symptoms did not fully develop until the next day or two.
Gettings wound up missing a month and, when asked if Kriisa's concussion was comparable, Miller said he didn't know.
"These days you get hit in the head, you get a concussion, I mean it's obviously very serious," Miller said. "We want to make sure we are protecting our players in all that we do but it's a lengthy return. It's kind of like a stress fracture -- it's not two days, five days. It's weeks, sometimes more than a month."
