Tennessee's Bishop Boswell 'starting to feel better' while dealing with shoulder injury
A timetable for the return of injured freshman Bishop Boswell has not been set, but associate head coach Justin Gainey said Monday morning that the Tennessee guard is “starting to feel better” while dealing with a right shoulder injury.
Boswell was a full participant in Monday morning’s practice at Food City Center, wearing a sleeve on his injured right shoulder.
“He said he’s feeling better, starting to feel better,” Gainey said before Monday’s practice. “But exact timeline, that would be more of a Chad (Newman) question. But … just in his conversations, it does feel better and the motion is a little more comfortable.”
Boswell suffered the injury in the second half of the 84-36 win over Western Carolina on December 17 after colliding with an opposing players on a screen. He did not dress for the 82-64 win over Middle Tennessee State on December 23.
No. 1 Tennessee (12-0) hosts Norfolk State (9-6) on Tuesday afternoon (3 Eastern Time, SEC Network+) in the final non-conference game of the season. SEC play opens Saturday against Arkansas.
Rick Barnes said after the MTSU game that the best-case scenario for Boswell would be returning after the Christmas break.
“He’s been working really hard with his rehab,” Barnes said during his postgame press conference Monday night, “and we’re hoping maybe (when he) comes back from Christmas.”
Tennessee down to nine scholarship players with Bishop Boswell out
Boswell has appeared in nine games this season, averaging 4.0 minutes off the bench. He’s averaging 0.6 points and 0.8 rebounds per game, with six assists, two steals and five turnovers.
He played a season-high eight minutes against Montana on November 13, had a season-high three assists against Austin Peay and three rebounds at Illinois.
“He’s made great strides,” Barnes said, “and I hate it for them, but he’ll come back stronger. His mental toughness and just his competitive spirit is something that, again, it’s going to serve him well. He’s a loyal kid. He wants to get it done and he’ll come back strong. There is no doubt that Bishop is going to come back and be a big part of it.”
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Boswell was seen after the Western Carolina game in a shoulder sling, but was not wearing the sling while he watched the MTSU game from the bench.
“I know he’ll do everything he needs to do while he’s there to rehab it and do that,” Barnes said. “He said he’s feeling better, but like I said, we’re playing the long game with him.
“We know we’re going to need him and once we get into SEC play, it’s really up to him once he gets comfortable.”
Sophomore wing Cam Carr left Tennessee last week
Boswell became a more necessary depth option at the end of the Tennessee bench after sophomore wing Cam Carr left the program last week, with intentions to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal.
The Vols entered the season with 11 scholarship players, out of a possible 13, and have already lost sophomore center JP Estrella for the season after he underwent foot surgery in November.
Carr had also been sidelined the last month after undergoing thumb surgery in November. He had the cast removed last week and had been working in individual drills during recent open practices.
“We would have had 10 guys here,” Barnes said, referencing the roster had Carr stayed, “and we expected that we could use all 10 guys.”
