Arizona Basketball: King Rawle Alkins rolling onto the court and through recovery

Arizona Basketball guard Rawle Alkins was looking forward to last night. He had planned on busting out a new dunk for the Red and Blue game outdoing last years dunk over the head of his coach Sean Miller.

Alkins had been practicing and posting videos on social media wetting our appetites for the grand opening display for the Arizona basketball teams upcoming season. He had got his body fat percentage down below the 10 percent he needed too for the NBA, and it wasn’t easy.

When the team entered McKale Center one by one I was wondering what Alkins would do? Since he cannot yet walk on his boot, was he going to be wheeled in by someone else? Was he going to come in on his knee scooter he uses to get around right now?

No, not King Rawle, he likes to make a splash!

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Alkins rode a decked out Arizona Wildcats themed motorized scooter into the arena on the court in the McKale Center! He seemed to be a natural motorcycle rider. King Rawle delighted fans, and it will be a memory that won’t be forgotten anytime soon. Unforgettable, that is his goal this season.

What you may not have noticed is the shirt Alkins was wearing under his jersey. Much like the families of Arizona Football players, the families of the basketball players wear family t-shirts to show their support. Alkins and his family wore newly designed Savage Life t-shirts with his last name and the number one on the back. Each “a” in Savage was a reddened savage eye so when you look at the shirt. It’s looking back at you. Very cool! Alkins wore a long sleeve blue version, and his family wore short sleeve white t-shirts.

https://twitter.com/OvOAustinK/status/921935355808378880

As a side note, Deandre Ayton’s family wore their own red and white t-shirts.

No. 1 stayed positive the entire game and cheered, dribbled, shot a basketball from the bench. After the game, Wildcats fans crowded the back entrance of McKale waiting for players to emerge for selfies and autographs. Ray Smith continues to be very popular with fans. His infectious smile and attitude rub off on everyone around him. Fans kept Smith busy for quite awhile.

Eventually, some of the freshmen made their way out of the arena, and finally, King Rawle slid out of the glass doors on his knee scooter. His fans rushed to him. Alkins spent a good 20 minutes or more with the folks who waited to see him and were sent smiling back to their cars.

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Alkins is healing faster than initially thought. At one point, Miller was reporting he would be back at the end of December, but just a week ago, he told me early December. So if things go well, and we found out last night he should be cleared to walk on his boot shortly, Alkins should/could be back for Pac-12 play, and maybe a bit earlier. If it’s up to King Rawle, it will be sooner, and he will do whatever he needs to do to make that happen. After all, he lives the Savage Life!