Sean Miller updated the status of Rawle Alkins on Thursday, saying that the star wing could make his first appearance for the Wildcats this weekend when they take on Alabama in the McKale Center.
“How much he plays, that remains to be seen,” Miller said. “He’s 100 percent healthy, but is he going to be 100 percent the quality of player that he’ll eventually become? No, because he’s missed so much time. Out of the 10-plus weeks that Rawle has been out, he was non-weight bearing for about six of those weeks. Forget basketball, he wasn’t even able to run. But over the last month he’s been able to do that and now that he’s able to practice, it’ll come back quickly.”
Alkins averaged 10.9 points for the Wildcats last season. He will provide them with another perimeter scorer as well as a bigger, stronger presence on the wing. We discussed Alkins’ potential impact on Friday morning’s podcast, and how it could open up a door for Arizona to play small: