From @jacksoncollier
arkansas.rivals.com
The Arkansas basketball team had its media day Thursday to give media members a glimpse of the team's practice and access to Razorback head coach Eric Musselman for questions.
One of the biggest questions throughout the offseason has been centered around junior forward Trevon Brazile, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury nine games into the 2022 season against UNC-Greensboro. Before his injury, the athletic forward averaged 11.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, 1.0 assists, and 1.0 steals per game.
Despite not being a full participant during the live portions of practice, Brazile's veteran presence has been vital.
"He’s been great, he’s always got great team concepts and team thoughts," Musselman said. "The guys all really like him and that helps out tremendously. And he’s one of our higher basketball IQ guys, he understands second, third, fourth options and he takes pride in the fact that he should be buddy-coaching with the guys and we need him to have some vocal leadership as well."
Brazile said he feels like he's at 100% health, but he also understands that he has to be patient and follow the proper timeline.
"I do everything in practice," Brazile said. "I do my own little live segment after practice or before practice until about the start of next week. Then I can start getting back into live. I've been feeling 100% for a couple weeks now. Now it's just putting the last finishing touches on it."
Musselman said that the target date to get Brazile back practicing fully is two and a half weeks.
"That target can move," Musselman said. "So I call it a moving target. The one thing that I think the medical staff's done a great job - I think TB's done a great job - is having patience throughout this and making sure that - he did play live last week, not with our team, necessarily, but we did do three-on-three work. Our staff talked to a lot of NBA people on how they go about it. So I'm happy with where he's at."
With all the expectations after a strong start to last season, there is still some reason to anticipate an adjustment period for Brazile. Musselman said it could be as long as a month for Brazile to fully get back into the swing of things.
"I don't think we can expect a guy who has been out that long to just come in and have three and a half weeks before your first game," Musselman said. "He's going to be a guy just like our team we hope come March he's taking it up another level. We'll see with each month him getting better and better, and he's already pretty good.
"Some things that I know will be different is I'm a lot more confident," Brazile said. "I feel like the game has slowed down for me sitting back for nine months and, you know, just watching a lot of basketball. And also going into my third year. Just being more confident in general and being a leader on the court."
Arkansas fans will get their first look at the 2023-24 Razorbacks next Wednesday for the Red-White Showcase, which will tipoff at 6:30 p.m. CT inside Barnhill Arena. The intrasquad scrimmage will not be televised or streamed.
HawgBeat - Trevon Brazile staying patient in return from injury
Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile close to returning to full action after a season-ending ACL injury last year.
arkansas.rivals.com
The Arkansas basketball team had its media day Thursday to give media members a glimpse of the team's practice and access to Razorback head coach Eric Musselman for questions.
One of the biggest questions throughout the offseason has been centered around junior forward Trevon Brazile, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury nine games into the 2022 season against UNC-Greensboro. Before his injury, the athletic forward averaged 11.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, 1.0 assists, and 1.0 steals per game.
Despite not being a full participant during the live portions of practice, Brazile's veteran presence has been vital.
"He’s been great, he’s always got great team concepts and team thoughts," Musselman said. "The guys all really like him and that helps out tremendously. And he’s one of our higher basketball IQ guys, he understands second, third, fourth options and he takes pride in the fact that he should be buddy-coaching with the guys and we need him to have some vocal leadership as well."
Brazile said he feels like he's at 100% health, but he also understands that he has to be patient and follow the proper timeline.
"I do everything in practice," Brazile said. "I do my own little live segment after practice or before practice until about the start of next week. Then I can start getting back into live. I've been feeling 100% for a couple weeks now. Now it's just putting the last finishing touches on it."
Musselman said that the target date to get Brazile back practicing fully is two and a half weeks.
"That target can move," Musselman said. "So I call it a moving target. The one thing that I think the medical staff's done a great job - I think TB's done a great job - is having patience throughout this and making sure that - he did play live last week, not with our team, necessarily, but we did do three-on-three work. Our staff talked to a lot of NBA people on how they go about it. So I'm happy with where he's at."
With all the expectations after a strong start to last season, there is still some reason to anticipate an adjustment period for Brazile. Musselman said it could be as long as a month for Brazile to fully get back into the swing of things.
"I don't think we can expect a guy who has been out that long to just come in and have three and a half weeks before your first game," Musselman said. "He's going to be a guy just like our team we hope come March he's taking it up another level. We'll see with each month him getting better and better, and he's already pretty good.
"Some things that I know will be different is I'm a lot more confident," Brazile said. "I feel like the game has slowed down for me sitting back for nine months and, you know, just watching a lot of basketball. And also going into my third year. Just being more confident in general and being a leader on the court."
Arkansas fans will get their first look at the 2023-24 Razorbacks next Wednesday for the Red-White Showcase, which will tipoff at 6:30 p.m. CT inside Barnhill Arena. The intrasquad scrimmage will not be televised or streamed.
