Hunter still recovering from Achilles’ surgery

Friday, Oct. 24, 2003 | 10:21 a.m.

Watching Demetrius Hunter struggle in sidecourt-to-sidecourt sprints, looking as if were dragging a ball-and-chain from his left ankle, might lead some to believe he hasn't healed well from surgery.

That would not be accurate, Hunter said.

"No, I'll be fine," he said. "I have soreness, of course. But that's from practicing. The scar tissue should break up, sooner or later. I'm feeling better, but I'm usually sore after practice."

Hunter, a 6-foot-2 senior shooting guard from Cheyenne High, struggled with a left Achilles' injury last season, the same one that plagued his right foot when he was at Georgetown.

He said his experience from the previous injury tells him that the scar tissue in his left ankle should be completely broken up around the first week of December.

"Nothing's holding me back," he said. "What hurt me (Wednesday) was when I dunked. I hadn't exploded like that in a while. As I play, I have to get used to playing sore. But I have to do it now because there's no time to waste."

Hunter said he is also affected by the constant stop-and-start, hot-and-cold routine of practice.

"My main thing right now is breaking up the scar tissue," he said. "But, yeah, I'm fine."

"We'll be very scrappy, defensively," he said. "From the way it looks, the offense will come, sooner or later. If worse comes to worse, we'll get our offense out of our defense.

"Everyone is playing really well right now on defense, know what I mean? I think, if we get steals and run like we want to, we should be fine."

Hunter, 23, will be looked upon for scoring and leadership.

As a sophomore at Georgetown, he started all 33 of the Hoyas' games, averaging 9.2 points. He shot 38.9 percent from 3-point land. Last season as a Rebel, he started 17 of 28 games, averaging 7.2 points and hitting 38.5 percent beyond the arc.

"We might be a little undersized," Hunter said, "but we can make up for that with our speed and defense."

And that fan who has been so harassed since trying to catch that foul ball at Wrigley Field in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series against the Florida Marlins?

"I'd have gone for the ball, too," Blankson said.

One could go to Chicago native Ousmane Barro, who is making his official visit to UNLV this weekend and is being hosted by Blankson.