Arizona guard Brandon Williams said he’s healthy yet not at “100 percent” but is still not completely certain if he’ll be back to be in an Arizona uniform for the 2020-21 season.
He said he’s definitely “gonna play” but …. “It’s just a matter of where at this point,” he said. “I’m not sure.”
There long has been speculation he would not return to UA given his uncertain status and because of Arizona’s incoming class.
But he did say he wasn’t sure where that speculation was coming from, only to add that he is determined to return, just where is the question.
Williams spoke to Zach Schumaker on an Instagram Live interview.
There are “a lot of paths I can go”adding college is one of them. he said he’ll do his homework to determine his future.
“I just need to get on the court at this point,” Williams said. “So, once I do that, hopefully I can show what I can do to everybody, because I feel like the part of me is missing right now is having that game feeling and being nervous before games. That kind of stuff is missing in my life right now. Once that gets back, I think my life would be going in a better direction. I’ll feel a lot more positive with myself, being around a team a lot more often. Those are the things that really mean something to you.”
Williams sat out all of last season after undergoing knee surgery after his freshman season. He has a condition called osteochondritis dissecans, in which bone underneath the cartilage of a joint dies due to lack of blood flow. With all the uncertainty, his place on the roster is a bit muddled – despite his obvious talent yet injury problem. Arizona now has a plethora of guards in Georgetown transfer James Akino, returning guard Jemarl Baker, foreign player Kerr Kriisa and transfer Terrell Brown.
In evaluating players last week – in a posts-season interview with Brian Jefferies – Miller did not speak of Williams’ return.
Williams said he has “a lot of game left in me.” Adding later he can’t wait to prove it.
“I can’t wait for that first game,” he said. “Not necessarily the whole season no matter where it is (but) the first game is going to mean something. If you think about it, I haven’t played a game since last March (2019). It’s going to be wild.”
He just wants to finish a season healthy and if that happens, he’ll be satisfied as a player after “getting into a groove” for most of his freshman year before suffering the injury.
“(My knee) doesn’t really affect me now. I’m moving past it,” Williams said. “I don’t want to just keep playing every game thinking about my knees, so it’s just something that I just got done and I’m glad to say is behind me. Hopefully, I won’t think about it ever again.”
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