Arizona senior Ira Lee could miss opener vs. NAU due to concussion

The most experienced member of an otherwise unexperienced Arizona Wildcats team may not be available for next week’s season opener.

Arizona coach Sean Miller said Friday that senior forward Ira Lee could miss the Nov. 25 game vs. NAU due to the lingering effects of a concussion suffered a few weeks back. Miller said Lee is still experiencing symptoms and that he’s still being eased back into action.

The 6-foot-8, 245-pound Lee is the only current Wildcat to have started a game with the program, doing so twice in 2019-20 and seven times for his career. He averaged 3.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 13 minutes per game last year, often as the first frontcourt player off the bench.

The UA has some recent experience with players missing time due to concussions. Last season forward Stone Gettings suffered an elbow to the head against Penn during the Wooden Legacy tournament, causing him to miss five games.

If Lee isn’t available the Wildcats would be down two frontcourt players, the other being freshman Daniel Batcho, who is likely to miss the entire season due to a knee injury.