Ortege Jenkins could not have been

more eager to play in a collegiate

contest. Then his anticipation was shattered in a simple, yet devastating, lay-up.

Jenkins, who came to Arizona as a Superprep Dream Team football recruit, suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee when he went up for a routine lay-up during practice on Nov. 8. He had reconstructive surgery on his knee Saturday, but will not see any action until next football season.

"It went real well according to the doctors," said Jenkins, a redshirt quarterback and walk-on guard for the basketball team. "It's a little sore, but other than that I feel good."

The surgery was successful, but that does not hide the many misfortunes Jenkins € who had never suffered any type of injury prior to joining the basketball team € has endured and will continue to face in the next few months.

He was not able to travel to Massachusetts and visit the Basketball Hall of Fame with the team. Nor was he able to share in the triumph of defeating college basketball power North Carolina last Friday.

He will not get the chance to gain experience in spring football practice, a step toward challenging for the quarterback position next season.

Instead, Jenkins is forced to spend the next six to nine months rehabilitating his damaged knee.

He is not expected to be cleared until May, but if all goes as expected he will be fully recovered by the start of football's Camp Cochise.

Jenkins is not dwelling on the negative points, though. In fact, he has found the positive side and is making the best out of his situation.

"It's a setback in my career, but I'd rather it happen as me being young and as a freshman other than have it happen sometime later on in the future," Jenkins said.

Jenkins added that many people come back stronger after they go through the rehab and said the injury gives him a chance to concentrate more on his academics.

He admitted that he has had his frustrating moments, however.

"It was pretty tough watching the basketball team play against North Carolina when I was just practicing with them a couple weeks ago and I knew I could have been out there playing with them," Jenkins said.

Basketball head coach Lute Olson said it would have been nice to be able to put Jenkins in during the North Carolina game to give the three perimeter players a break, but that Jenkins' presence would be most useful preparing for games.

"It definitely hurt," Olson said. "It hurt probably more in the practice situation than it would have been in the game."

Jenkins began his rehabilitation yesterday. For the next few weeks he will concentrate on getting the range of motion in his knee back. Then he can start to rebuild the muscles and work on his flexibility.

Offensive coordinator Homer Smith said Jenkins is a "most promising prospect" and will be able to improve on his game, despite his injury.

While it is certain that Jenkins will be spending the majority of his free time in the training room, his future beyond rebuilding the strength in his knee is far from determined.

Jenkins, who is on football scholarship, said his top priority at Arizona is to help the football team, but he said he would like to play basketball as well.

"I love the game of basketball, and I want to help the team as much as I can and that's the whole reason why I wanted to play two sports here," Jenkins said. "But if they (the coaches) decide that they didn't feel that was a good idea then it wouldn't be a problem."

Olson said it is difficult to know whether fans will see Jenkins in a basketball jersey next season.

"At this point it's hard to tell because with that injury now he's lost what would have been a year of learning this program," Olson said.

In the Wildcats' annual Red-Blue Scrimmage on Nov. 1, Jenkins' only game of the season, he scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds.

"He would have helped us out a lot," freshman guard Mike Bibby said. "He's a big guard. He's really strong. He's quick. He can shoot."

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