Hunter’s fate in hands of trainer

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Jan. 23, 2003 | 10:02 a.m.

If it was up to UNLV guard Demetrius Hunter, he would play in the Rebels' key Mountain West Conference road games at Air Force and New Mexico this weekend.

But the explosive 6-foot-2 junior from Cheyenne High School, who sat out Monday night's 66-63 loss to Utah due to tendinitis in his left Achilles' tendon, says that decision is out of his hands.

"I'm going to let (team trainer Dave) Tomchek make the decision," Hunter said during shooting drills on Wednesday afternoon at the Cox Pavilion. "I have my trust in him. He's got me this far back, so I'll let him call the rest."

Tomchek's prognosis?

"Day-to-day," he said. "Questionable."

That could change depending on how sore Hunter's leg feels this afternoon.

Hunter, who has been spending a lot of time in the swimming pool rehabbing the injury which has sidelined him since the end of a Jan. 16 game at BYU, found himself cutting and running on the new artifcial football turf laid down on the floor of the Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday for the Arena Football League.

"I was doing basketball stuff, like cutting and sliding," Hunter said. (Tomchek) wants to see how it reacts today. If I'm sore, he'll probably hold me out. If I feel fine, I can go.

"I want to play," Hunter continued. "Monday night I really wanted to get out there. But I've got to do what's best for the long-term."

Hunter said he will more than likely need surgery after the season to correct the problem. He had surgery on his right Achilles a couple of years ago and hasn't experienced any problems since.