Incoming UCLA men’s basketball freshman Alfred Aboya
underwent a successful arthroscopic procedure on his right knee
last Monday. The hour-long surgery, performed by Bruin team
physician Gerald Finerman, removed loose bodies from Aboya’s
right knee and repaired a torn meniscus. The 6-foot-8, 242-pound
Aboya, who before the surgery had been competing at the Nike
College ProCity League of Los Angeles on the campus of West Los
Angeles College, is expected to be off the basketball court for
four to six weeks. “It will be a little tough not to
play,” said Aboya, who will miss the remainder of summer
league competition. “But I’ll stay strong and
I’ll be ready in six weeks to start working, to get back to
where I was before the surgery.” Aboya, who had an ice pack
on the knee during his summer league team’s game on Saturday,
said the injury was not brought on by a specific incident, but
should only be a minor setback. Though an MRI confirmed that he had
a torn meniscus in his knee back in late June, Aboya still played
three summer league games before the operation. “I
didn’t know that I had the injury until the physical,”
Aboya said. “But I still played because it didn’t hurt
at all.” One of five heralded incoming freshmen, Aboya said
he would have required the surgery sooner or later, but undergoing
the procedure now was the only option to have him injury-free
before practice commences for the 2005-2006 season on Oct. 14.
“We wanted to have it done now so Alfred would be ready for
the start of practice,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. In his
three games at West Los Angeles College, the Cameroon native has
been aggressive on the defensive end but admits his offensive game
needs to be honed and refined. Still, Aboya is wary of whether
he’ll be at 100 percent at the start of the season.
“Nah, I’ll be 150 percent before the season
begins,” Aboya said.
HERE COMES THE SUN: Dijon Thompson, the 54th pick in this
year’s NBA Draft, has something many players selected in
front of him are still without ““ a contract. The Phoenix Suns
inked Thompson to a one-year contract with a team option on the
second year. Terms of the contract were not disclosed, but it is
believed Thompson signed for the league minimum, close to $400,000.
Phoenix’s only rookie, Thompson is second in minutes played
on the Suns’ summer league team in Las Vegas and is shooting
just under 42 percent.