Over a six-game stretch from Jan. 5 to Jan. 21, UTC forward Z. Mason finally recognized himself. The broad-shoulder big man averaged 11.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting 53.5 percent from the field and 73.3 percent from the free-throw line in 22.7 minutes a game.
At last, his decision to extinguish his brief football career as a tight end at Ole Miss and return to basketball made sense. In his first 17 games, the sophomore played 12.9 minutes per contest, averaging 3.7 points and 3.6 rebounds. He shot 32.7 percent from the field and 65.5 percent from the stripe.
Everything finally clicked, though, in early January.
Then, during a Jan. 19 outing at UNG Greensboro, he felt his knee jerk when going up for a rebound.
The pain slowly sank in. Mason shook it off and finished the game. He posted an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double against Elon two days later. Remembering back to that game before an afternoon practice at McKenzie Arena on Tuesday, Mason shook his head and said, “I still don’t know how.”
Heading into the Elon game, Mason’s knee was swollen and bruised. He hadn’t even practiced the day before.
Later on, after the team returned from the UNCG-Elon road trip, an MRI revealed that Mason’s kneecap had subluxed — it partially dislocated and then popped back into place. That’s what caused the bruising, swelling and ensuing soreness.
“It was really painful,” Mason said. “I couldn’t really put much pressure on it and I couldn’t explode like I wanted to.”
Now it appears Mason is ready to return. Nearly a month has passed since he took the floor for 15 minutes in a Jan. 26 loss to Davidson when the pain became too much bear.
“I’ve been gone way too long, and it’s been brutal having to watch,” Mason said Tuesday.
Especially because the Mocs went 1-7 with their starting four man serving as a 6-foot-5 spectator. Many of the strides UTC took while going 3-3 with Mason’s improved play vanished quickly.
“He means more than 12 points and six rebounds,” said Mocs head coach John Shulman. “It’s a confidence factor. You can’t overstate that or understate that. On penetration, Z. can go and block the shot. On a shot that goes up, Z. can go get a rebound that the rest of our guys can’t. He gives us confidence.”
Shulman hopes that confidence returns Thursday at Furman. The Mocs need Mason. Desperately. Furman marks their final chance to win a road game this season. It’s now been nearly a year since UTC returned from a road trip with a win, dating back to a Feb. 26, 2011 game at Samford.
“We don’t even talk about it,” Shulman said of team’s road woes.
Saddled with a 10-19 overall record and a 4-12 Southern Conference mark, the Mocs will finish last in the North Division regardless of the outcome in their final two games. Progress can still be made, though. Any chance of a run in the SoCon tournament weighs heavily on Mason, who was gradually becoming the player Shulman envisioned before his knee injury whisked him out of the lineup.
“He was so rusty in August and he was finally getting it,” the coach said. “That’s why we need to hurry up and get him back in a game. I don’t care if he turns it over 12 straight times on Thursday, he needs to play as much as he can play.”
Mason still isn’t running at full speed and he appears timid when making a hard cut. Shulman said after Tuesday’s practice, however, that he’s comfortable with how the lumbering forward is getting up and down the floor, jumping, and making lateral moves.
At this point, something drastic would have to occur to keep Mason from making his long-awaited return. UTC has little other option.
“He’s moving well enough,” Shulman said.
