Practice injury sidelines Rodgers


By From Staff and Wire Reports
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Monday, September 26, 2005

Knee sprain will keep senior guard out 4 to 8 weeks

Senior guard Chris Rodgers of the Arizona men's basketball team sprained his right knee in practice Wednesday and is expected to miss four to eight weeks.

The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Rodgers, one of three Wildcat seniors, led last year's team with a 2.3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

He averaged 5.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 36 games, helping push Arizona to its fifth 30-win season.

"Recovery from this type of injury can require a great deal of patience," said athletic trainer Justin Kokoskie in a press release on www.arizonaathletics.com. "We'll take it day to day to make sure we get him ready to play as quickly and as safely as possible."

The Wildcats, who begin their regular season Nov. 21 against Kansas in the EA Sports Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii, return 11 players from last year's team, including Rodgers and sophomore Jawaan McClellan, who also sustained an injury recently that has him at day-to-day.

Arizona finished 30-7 in 2004-2005 and fell a game short of the program's fifth Final Four.