Lobos are optimistic about Kuiper
Senior still awaits MRI for shoulder
The Lobos are hopeful they’re in the clear of any serious damage to the left shoulder of Dane Kuiper.
The team expects to know more today after the senior guard has an MRI to confirm initial examinations that indicate there is no structural damage to the shoulder Kuiper injured during Friday night’s Cherry-Silver exhibition game in Dreamstyle Arena — The Pit.
“As far as know, they have found nothing right now telling them there is damage that would lead to him missing any extended period of time,” Lobos coach Paul Weir said Monday.
Kuiper was suited up at Monday’s practice but did not participate in team drills, instead sitting off to the side working directly the entire time with athletic trainer Corey DeBarbrie.
Kuiper was seen running, using resistance bands and dribbling with the injured arm.
If the MRI confirms there is no structural damage, Weir said there is no timetable for a possible return to full participation.
Kuiper injured the shoulder reaching for a pass late in Friday’s scrimmage. There was no sign of impact with another player. UNM hasn’t said exactly what the diagnosis is.
NAU ON SATURDAY: The Lobos host Northern Arizona on Saturday in a closed door, no media, no fans allowed scrimmage.
The game is the second half of a two-year agreement with NAU that had the Lobos play a scrimmage in Flagstaff last October.
While the NCAA now allows the stats from those scrimmages to be made public, and coaches can talk about them after the fact, Weir said he doesn’t yet know if he will do either on Saturday.
SPECIAL GUEST: In the latest version of Weir inviting people from all walks of life to his practices, Chad Q. Brown, a “certified behavioral consultant,” according to his company website, was in the Pit on Monday observing.
Weir met him at a basketball coaches’ clinic this offseason in Florida. Brown is the president of Profile, a consulting firm based out of Indiana that specializes in team building and organizational strategies. He has worked with corporations and college and professional sports teams.
Weir said he was impressed with Brown’s presentation, including some aspects of it that incorporated the use of personality profiles for employees at businesses or players for sports teams and how that was applied to effective management.
“I just figure if there is some lesson I can learn about my team or something I could be doing to help us now rather than learning it in mid-January after a loss, I’ll take it,” Weir said.
NEVADA GOOD: The Associated Press on Monday released its 2018-19 preseason Top 25 poll with the Nevada Wolf Pack checking in at No. 7. That is the highest any Mountain West team has ever been ranked in the AP’s preseason poll, passing Utah’s No. 13 preseason ranking ahead of the 2000-2001 season.
Nevada had a high ranking of No. 2 on the ballot of voter Mark Berman of the Roanoke (Va.) Times and a low ranking of 20 by Scott Mansch of the Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune.
San Diego State was the other MWC team to get a preseason AP vote. The Aztecs appeared on one ballot — No. 17 by the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Elton Alexander. That was good for nine points, putting SDSU 16 spots out of the Top 25 in the “others receiving votes” portion of the poll.
NEVADA BAD: It’s a good thing those votes were taken last week.
On Sunday in Reno, Nevada hosted Washington in an exhibition game in the Lawlor Events Center. Washington, which checked in at No. 25 in Monday’s AP poll, beat the Wolf Pack 91-73, outscoring the preseason MWC favorite by 19 points in the second half.
Washington played without returning starter Noah Dickerson, who averaged 15.5 points per game last season. He is out with an undisclosed injury.
G LEAGUE DRAFT: Two familiar names for college basketball fans in the state were called during Saturday’s G League draft.
New Mexico State’s Jemerrio Jones was drafted in the first round by the Santa Cruz Warriors, then traded, along with a 2019 first round pick, to the South Bay Lakers, an affiliate of the Los Angeles Lakers, for Alen Smailagic of Serbia, who was taken with the No. 4 overall pick.
With the 21st pick in the third round, former Lobo Elijah Brown, who played at Oregon last season, was drafted by the Grand Rapids Drive, an affiliate of the Detroit Pistons.