UW's Desmond Claude Might Not Be Finished Just Yet

Dealing with a severe ankle sprain, Desmond Claude didn't play until the fifth game of the season for the University of Washington basketball team.

He now hasn't appeared in the past five games, since Claude -- not the school -- announced on social media that he was stepping away from the team while dealing with the same lingering ankle issues.

Meantime, UW coach Danny Sprinkle wasn't willing to address the situation other than to say the 6-foot-6 Claude would receive the best medical care he could find anywhere if he just stayed in the program.

Desmond Claude surveys the floor in a Husky home game. | Dave Sizer photo

What looked like sort of a disjointed break-up -- that the senior guard had permanently moved on -- apparently has a chance to rekindle and just maybe people haven't seen the last of Claude in a Husky uniform.

"They're still waiting to kind of see what comes back from a medical perspective, from MRIs and X-rays," Sprinkle said on Monday. " Hopefully, we'll have some of that information this week."

What that means is there's still a chance, even if ever so slight, the Huskies could regain the services of their third-leading scorer (13.3 points per game) who's tied with Wesley Yates III, sometime during the stretch run.

Desmond Claude goes to the basket against Utah. | Dave Sizer photo

Clearly Claude was disillusioned over his decreasing lack of mobility and performance, while his coach seemed equally frustrated over his player's apparent reluctance to see things through with the medical staff.

With the mention of test results, the two sides seem to be back on the same page again.

Claude, who transferred in from USC with Yates, has appeared in just a dozen Husky games, starting nine of them.

With his size and craftiness, he creates a match-up problem for opponents and gives the UW (12-10 overall, 4-7 Big Ten) another scoring threat.

He had four 20-point games in his limited time on the floor, with a high of 24 against Seattle University, 22 against his old team in the Trojans, 21 against Utah and 20 in his first appearance of the season against Southern.

The Huskies have just nine regular-season games remaining, beginning with Iowa (16-5, 6-4) on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena, and the Big Ten tournament and maybe more.

While Claude doesn't appear ready for a quick turnaround against the Hawkeyes, just the idea that he's still seeing the medical staff and having tests conducted would indicate there's an effort to get him back on the floor before the season is over.

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