UALR will give special attention to the two seniors on its roster, Will Neighbour and Leroy Isler, a few minutes before tonight’s regular-season finale at the Jack Stephens Center.
But one of the seniors, Neighbour, might not even be in uniform.
Neighbour, UALR’s leading scorer, still hasn’t gone through a full practice since dislocating his shoulder during a Feb. 22 loss to Texas-Arlington. And he made another trip to a doctor after feeling a tweak in the shoulder while shooting Tuesday.
Neither Neighbour nor Coach Steve Shields know if Neighbour will be in the lineup when UALR hosts Louisiana-Monroe at 7 tonight.
“I don’t know,” Shields said. “I really don’t.”
A magnetic resonance imaging scan was performed Thursday on Neighbour, and while the tests came back negative, he could still require surgery after the season, which would be his third in four years because of shoulder issues.
Neighbour has missed UALR’s past two games and hasn’t been completely healthy since spraining an ankle during a Feb. 1 victory at South Alabama.
Complicating matters for Neighbour is the expected presence of his mother and grandparents, who are flying in from England to attend the game.
“Lots of things are just telling me ‘Get out there,’ ” said Neighbour, whose 1,054 career points are tied for 14th all-time at UALR and are the most since Shields took over as coach in 2003. “But you have to look at it long ways and see what is the smart thing to do. I definitely want to get out there, though, for sure.”
Neighbour, bothered by injuries and illness during his first two seasons at UALR, was averaging career-highs of 17.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game through the first 22 games, and had scored 20 or more points 10 times.
“I felt ‘This is where I know I should be playing at,’” Neighbour said. “And this is where Coach Shields is pushing me to get to, and it’s somewhere we know that’s my potential.”
But Neighbour hasn’t been the same since turning his ankle in Mobile, Ala. He tried to play through it in home losses to Georgia State and Western Kentucky, but combined for 10 points and 12 rebounds. He missed road losses to Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe, and had scored eight points in 20 minutes before crashing to the floor after dislocating his shoulder on a dunk against Texas-Arlington.
Neighbour hasn’t played since.
“You do feel for Will,” Shields said. “He’s worked so hard. … We were hoping to finish off on an upward trend, from his standpoint. It’s disappointing for him.”
UALR has emerged from a five-game losing streak to win its last two, without Neighbour, winning 62-55 at Troy and beating Arkansas State 74-67.
UALR has assists on 34 of 46 made baskets and four different players have scored 10 points or more with Neighbour out.
“You can’t win the game by yourself,” said Isler, UALR’s other senior. “Just moving the ball. That’s it. Moving the ball has been the key for us, and we’re 2-0.”
It’s a type of play Neighbour would like to be a part of, but he’s trying not to rush.
“I do think, if I was healthy, where would we be right now?” Neighbour said. “But, I just have to keep thinking ahead and not about the past and what could have been.”
Sports, Pages 21 on 03/08/2014