University of Wyoming guard Hunter Maldonado, right, starts a drive to the basket against Colorado Christian during an exhibition, Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018, at the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie.
University of Wyoming guard Hunter Maldonado, right, starts a drive to the basket against Colorado Christian during an exhibition, Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018, at the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie.
LARAMIE – Third-year University of Wyoming men’s basketball coach Allen Edwards provided some updates Thursday on his team’s depleted personnel situation, and it was a mix of good and bad news.
Edwards said UW will pursue a medical redshirt for sophomore guard Hunter Maldonado, who has missed the last seven games and played in only eight games this season due to back, knee and ankle injuries. Maldonado hasn’t played since the Dec. 11 game against Denver, when he fell hard to the floor after being undercut by a Denver player going up for a rebound. That fall caused more damage to his already ailing back.
Maldonado will have three years of eligibility left if he’s granted the redshirt. The 6-foot-7 Maldonado is still UW’s second-leading scorer at 13.8 points per game and second-leading rebounder at 6.8 per contest.
“It is more about getting everything figured out with his back, and he is still recovering from the knee and ankle injuries,” Edwards said. “He feels the same way, his parents feel the same way, and the doctors feel the same way (about redshirting). We don’t want to put him in harm’s way.”
UW also plans to redshirt true freshman guard Tariq Johnson, who has missed the last three games due to a heart condition. Edwards said initial test results have been positive and not career-ending. Edwards said more tests will be done.
Johnson has played in nine games this season and averaged 1.4 points per contest. The threshold of games played and still being allowed to redshirt per NCAA rules is 10.
“Since we’re dealing with the heart, we’ve been cautious, and he has a history (with heart-related issues) within his family,” Edwards said. “Tariq has been great through all this, even at practice, because he’s starting to see some of the things I was getting on him about.”
Edwards said junior guard Jake Hendricks will see the doctor next week for his injured right knee. Hendricks was hurt Dec. 22 at UTEP and has missed the last three games. He damaged his medial collateral ligament, which requires four to six weeks recovery time.
Hendricks has played in 12 games, so he is past the redshirt threshold. Edwards said UW could apply for a medical redshirt, but the likelihood of getting it is slim, so UW will play him when he’s ready.
Hendricks has averaged 11.4 points per game, and leads the team with 34 3-pointers.
UW added another walk-on to its roster Thursday in guard Caius Corvig from Bucharest, Romania. Corvig started his career at Longwood University in 2016-17, where he redshirted. He tried to walk on at Arizona State after that, but it didn’t work out.
Corvig won’t be eligible to play this season, per NCAA transfer rules, but will be allowed to practice. Thursday was his first practice.
Corvig will have two years of eligibility with UW, and will be eligible to play in late December.
Corvig attended Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix, the same school as UW freshman guard Trevon “TJ” Taylor. As a senior, he was a captain and first-team all-state selection, where he averaged 20 points, 12 rebounds and five assists per game. Corvig also has played on the Romanian National Team at various levels.
Corvig is the third walk-on UW has added to its roster this season. The others are freshman Haize Fornstrom of Pine Bluffs, a walk-on wide receiver for the football team, and redshirt sophomore KC Henry of Lingle, who also is a team manager.
Robert Gagliardi is the WyoSports senior editor. He can be reached at rgagliardi@wyosports.net or 307-755-3325. Follow him on Twitter at @rpgagliardi.
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