Wildcat transfer Ajea Yoakum has 'successful' surgery on knee; not known how long she will be out

Arizona women’s basketball transfer Ajea Yoakum had surgery Thursday for a knee injury.

It is not known how long Yoakum, who posted on her Instagram account that the surgery was “successful” and looked to be in good spirits, will be out.

Yoakum, who spent the last two seasons at Florida International, joined the Wildcats at the beginning of June for summer training.

The 6-0 forward, who was set to be a grad student in her final year of eligibility, averaged 10.4 points and 5.6 rebounds in just 19 games last season. An undisclosed injury ended her season in January, and it is not known if this current injury is connected.

Still, she made Conference USA’s honorable mention team last season.

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Prior to her stint at FIU, the Portland, Oregon, native spent two seasons at Eastern Arizona College.

Last season, the injury bug hit the Wildcats hard as Montaya Dew and midseason addition Erin Tack were both out with torn ACLs, while Sali Kourouma was missed the latter half of the season with a torn labrum. The UA roster ended up shrinking to seven players.

Arizona coach Adia Barnes said she didn’t want to face a short bench again this year, so she started with 14 on the roster. Heading into this season, with Yoakum’s injury, UA is left with 13 active players — seven of them forwards.

In other roster news, Katarina Kneževic arrived in Tucson from Serbia arrived this week. That leaves Mailien Rolf as the only Wildcat who isn’t in town. She is playing with her German National Team in FIBA’s U20 Women’s Eurobasket Tournament.