After some NBA scouts watched Arizona practice during the preseason, Sean Miller says, they told him Ray Smith might be as talented as anybody the Wildcats had.
So maybe someday, if the freshman forward can get past two torn ACLs and finally start the kind of high-level college basketball career he was expected to have as a five-star recruit out of Las Vegas, the NBA will be a possibility.
But at this point, it looks like a few other jobs could be a good fit, too.
Like, being a physical therapist. Strength coach. Orthopedic surgeon. Or maybe even a basketball coach.
Smith has been exposed to all of those possibilities not once, but twice. He tore his left ACL before his senior season of high school and his right ACL in October, just after UA’s Red-Blue Game.
Each one required surgery, therapy and weight training. And, soon after the second injury, Smith’s coaching “internship” took hold.
“Being a freshman, coach will yell at you all the time,” Smith said. “I didn’t understand. He would yell about ‘pack-line defense, pack-line defense.’ Not knowing the game as well as he does — nowhere close — I didn’t see it.
“I was thinking, ‘How does this help?’ Not in the sense of doubting him, but I was just curious.”
Now he knows why. He has had plenty of time to know why.
Smith not only watches UA practices, but also sits on the bench at every game, home and road. Since he can’t play, only recently having been cleared to simply jog, his focus is watching the game almost from a coach’s perspective.
“It’s a crash course in college basketball,” Miller said. “He’s learned a lot.”
At the same time, Miller said, Smith is also a positive influence on the bench, always cheering his teammates and staying upbeat.
You wouldn’t think that part would be easy.
Smith hasn’t been healthy for the most part since July 2014, when he tore his left ACL in a travel-ball tournament. He committed to Arizona later that month, saying then that the Wildcats expressed a strong willingness to take him, even with the injury, and he even sat out the end of his senior season at Las Vegas High School in order to best prepare himself for Arizona.
Then he gets to Tucson, starts excelling in practice, scores eight points over 20 minutes in the Red-Blue Game … and blows out his other knee five days later.
Of all the UA’s varied roster availability issues this season, Smith’s has topped the list. Both for the team and for him.
“It breaks your heart being around him because he’s such a great kid, such a smart kid, a hard worker, determined,” Miler said. “You got a glimpse at the Red-Blue Game of how talented that he is and where he was headed.
“He’s just like a beacon of light for our team, because no matter how bad it gets for you, if you feel bad because you lost the game, or now Allonzo (Trier) is hurt … then you look at Ray.”
But if others feel sorry for Smith, he’s not doing the same with himself.
For him, it’s not just a question of why. It’s also a question of how.
Smith answered the first one by saying he believes everything happens for a reason, but the second one may never be answered.
According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, 10.5 percent of male athletes suffer an opposite leg injury within 24 months of an ACL reconstruction.
In Smith’s case, maybe the right knee tear was because the left knee became so strong during the first rehabilitation that it created an imbalance. Maybe it was just coincidental.
Or maybe, Smith says, it was because of the way his body developed.
“I think it’s just that I may have grown too fast or something,” Smith said. “You never know with stuff like this. There’s just so many things that could have affected it. Going into my sophomore year, I grew six inches in a short amount of time.”
UA athletic trainer Justin Kokoskie said Smith also hit a growth spurt at about the time he tore the first ACL. After all, he was only five months past his 17th birthday at that point, still not fully filled out.
“Part of me says his body still catching up,” Kokoskie said. “We’re looking at getting symmetry in his body. He’s up 35 pounds and big and strong.”
Kokoskie said Smith was only 186 pounds when he arrived at Arizona, and Smith said he was 205, with 10 percent body fat, at the time of his injury. Now, Smith says he’s up to 220, with the goal of hitting 225 pounds and just 5 percent body fat.
It’s not just about the weights, either. Kokoskie said Smith is now shooting, working on UA’s underwater treadmill and having his gait and movement patterns analyzed. He’s also become more conversant with nutrition strategy.
“He’s a smart kid who takes good care of himself, and he’s very motivated,” Kokoskie said. “The best part is he’s been through it before, so he knows exactly what he’s getting into. He’s learned how to rehab and how important it is to focus on the whole body.”
So when Smith finally does start playing for the Wildcats, his knees will be new, his mind will be old and his eligibility clock will still have four full years if he wants them.
That’s a positive. For Smith, and for the Wildcats.
“I have time to take care of schoolwork and get as big as I can,” Smith said. “And it’s good to be on these road trips to see how things work at the different schools and all that stuff.
“It’s like I’ll be a rookie and a vet going into next year.”
Rim shots
• Miller said point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright will start Wednesday’s game with ASU, even though Kadeem Allen has fully recovered from illnesses that limited him in the past four games. “I think Parker’s earned it,” Miller said.
Miller said Allen lost up to 15 pounds when he was ill but has since gained eight to 10 of them back.
Monday “was good for him in that he was able to get in the gym and have a good practice,” Miller said. “He feels good and you can see it in his eyes. It’s important we get him back. For a while he was just doing the best he could.”
• UA’s Feb. 27 game at Utah has been set for noon on ESPN. That means the Utes will host the Wildcats just 39 hours after finishing a Feb. 25 game with ASU, while the Wildcats will have an additional day of rest after facing Colorado on Feb. 24.
• The NCAA released an updated look this week at scoring numbers that continue to support the notion that rules changes are speeding up the game. Overall, scoring is up 5.5 points compared with mid-February last season, while fouls and free throws attempted are both up 1.1, and field goal percentage is up 0.56.
Miller said he felt the shot clock change from 35 to 30 seconds has been particularly significant.
“I don’t know if any one of us could have predicted that it would have the scoring increase like it has,” Miller said.
