Ari Boya to have surgery Tuesday, Aug. 6

[Da Coach]

Ari Boya suffered another setback and will be sidelined for a while. The team did not describe all the details, but reported that he will undergo a surgical procedure on his "lower leg" tomorrow morning (Tuesday, Aug. 6). He is expected to fully recover before the start of the 2019-20 season.

Recall that Ari broke a bone in his left ankle on October 10, 2018, and was out of action for over 2 months. He made his first appearance in a game on December 15, 2018. It is my understanding that this is an elective procedure to repair the ankle that was broken, as it never healed ideally.

[Da Coach]

Let's hope all goes well tomorrow. From what I hear, Ari could have played with his ankle problem, but it bothered him enough that they wanted to fix it now so he would have time to recover by the time the season started. Ari healed quickly after the initial injury. He was injured Oct. 10, 2018, and it was said he would miss 8-12 weeks. He returned to practice the first week of December, about 8 weeks after the injury, and played his first game Dec. 15, 2018, barely more than 9 weeks after the injury. So his recovery time then was on the shorter side of the estimated time frame.

The concern is that with Rienk Mast's injury, Bradley is short in the frontcourt. The only other big men available until Ari returns are Koch Bar, Ja'Shon Henry, Elijah Childs, and possibly freshman Stephon Gabriel, though Gabriel's game has been more of a big guard type. But he is capable of shifting inside, just as Ja'shon Henry did last year.

Teams can start practicing exactly 6 weeks before their first scheduled game. The earliest that teams can play their first game this season is November 5, 2019. We don't know yet when Bradley's first game is scheduled (should know tomorrow), but it almost certainly will be some time between Nov. 5 and Nov. 8. That means practice can begin as early as Tuesday, Sept. 24 or as late as Friday, Sept. 27. That gives Ari about 7 weeks to recover before practice begins.

Get well quickly Ari!

[lb071964]

Ari did not have another injury. With his ankle since he hurt it last year he would have a good week or two and then the the pain would come back. They finally had to make the decision to put screws in it to get this behind him. He will be limited for four weeks and then back at it.

[nomonoles4u]

Did we hear anything from Ari's surgery.
nomonoles

[Da Coach]

I doubt there will be any update. But it was a minor procedure.

[Jim]

The concern is that with Rienk Mast's injury, Bradley is short in the frontcourt.

Any updates on Rienk Mast?

[nomonoles4u]

Any word on Ari's recovery? Is he still on target to begin practice on schedule, is he still in a boot,etc?
nomonoles

[Da Coach]

Yes, he is recovering well and on schedule. Last we saw him at last weekend's soccer tailgating party, he was still wearing a boot, but doing well otherwise.