Gabe Madsen is just happy it wasn’t worse.
The third-year University of Utah guard took an awkward spill with 17:53 to go in the first half at Oregon on Jan. 28. He exited the game, was ruled out for the night, and hasn’t played since. Five days later, Madsen was ruled out for 4-6 weeks with what was termed a lower-leg injury.
The Utes’ second-leading scorer earlier this week revealed to The Salt Lake Tribune that his lower-leg injury is in fact a high-ankle sprain. Not great, but it could have been worse.
“There were a lot of thoughts going through my head on what it could be because it was a really weird fall,” Madsen said Tuesday after practice. “I tried not to let my brain go that way, but when I got the initial diagnosis of a high-ankle sprain, I was very glad that that’s all it was because I didn’t think it would be that because of how it felt.”
The timing of Madsen’s injury is particularly brutal given that Utah has reached February and is still playing games that matter. Already a long shot to grab an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, those odds became longer after last week’s 78-72 loss to Stanford, although Utah’s final six regular-season games currently include four Quadrant 1 opportunities. The NIT, however, is very much in play.
“It’s obviously very frustrating,” Madsen said. “These are some very meaningful games. You work hard to be able to play in these types of games. It’s a long season and to be sidelined for it, it’s tough, but again, just trying to keep a good mindset about it and do all I can to get back out there pretty quick.
Whether or not Madsen will experience the postseason for the first time depends on how quickly he can get back. Four weeks from the date of the injury is Feb. 25, which is late in the regular season. Six weeks would mean March 11. The first round of the Pac-12 Tournament is March 8. The first round of the NIT would be either March 14 or 15.
For now, all Madsen can do is rehab. He began last week in a walking boot, but said Tuesday he is trying to wean off that a bit. He’s been doing non-weight-bearing activities to keep strength up in that right leg. Biking, upper-body lifting, shooting that doesn’t involve jumping, but he knows he can’t push it too much further because the tendons in the ankle have to heal.
“I’m just trying to stay in shape and keep the shot ready,” Madsen said. “Hopefully, I can start running in the pool soon and start doing more stuff to get some ankle flexibility back.”
Other things on my mind
• When USC and UCLA announced their intentions to leave the Pac-12 seven months ago, I was of the belief that the conference’s Four Corners schools (Utah, Colorado, Arizona State, Arizona) needed to get on the phone with the Big 12.
I still believe that is the best course of action, especially now, with a new media rights deal not panning out as commissioner George Kliavkoff had hoped, and with the flirtation with SMU and San Diego State seemingly not doing much except adding a fraction of the television homes that the league lost with UCLA and USC.
The 10 remaining schools staying tethered under the assumption that Kliavkoff would deliver a Grant of Rights agreement worth signing was the prudent move, but if he’s not going to deliver, it’s time for Utah and the rest of the Four Corners to consider their options, if they haven’t already.
Being in the Big 12, which is lining up as the third-best college football conference, is not a bad place to be.
• The NCAA Women’s Tournament selection committee gave its top-16 overall seeds to this point on Thursday evening on ESPN. Utah hit the board as the No. 6 overall seed, meaning the Utes are currently the second-rated No. 2 seed.
There is nothing definitive when the NCAA does these top-16 reveals during the regular season, but it merely gives a peak as to what the selection committee is thinking with Selection Sunday still a month away.
The only tangible takeaway here in my opinion is that Utah is in good position to grab a top-4 seed, which brings it with first- and second-round home games at the Huntsman Center. Based on what we learned Thursday, it would take a real downswing for the Utes to not be hosting a four-team NCAA Tournament pod in five weeks.