Arizona guard Brandon Williams to miss 2019-20 season after undergoing knee surgery

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Arizona Wildcats guard Brandon Williams will miss the 2019-20 season after undergoing knee surgery, according to Jeff Goodman of WatchStadium.

Williams missed his entire junior season of high school after having knee surgery to correct a congenital knee condition called osteochondritis dissecans, in which bone underneath the cartilage of a joint dies due to lack of blood flow.

That same knee flared up a few times during his freshman season at Arizona, causing him to miss six games and be limited for several others.

Arizona’s sophomore Brandon Williams will miss this entire season after undergoing knee surgery, source told @Stadium. Significant blow to Arizona.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) August 7, 2019

In all, the sophomore appeared in 26 games (21 starts), averaging 11.4 points and 3.4 assists per contest, while shooting 38 percent from the field, 32 percent from 3, and 82 percent from the free-throw line. Williams was expected to start alongside incoming freshman Nico Mannion in what figured to be a potent backcourt tandem.

Ranked as the No. 34 player in the 2018 recruiting class, Williams was a high four-star recruit coming out of Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, California. The Los Angeles native committed to Arizona in June 2017 then decommitted in March 2018 after the ESPN wiretap report.

Two months later, he re-upped with the Wildcats, turning down Gonzaga and Oregon.

“The whole thing with me was being extremely happy with a program where I know I’m most comfortable with, and where I know my heart first led me,” Williams said at the time. “That was with Coach (Sean) Miller and the University of Arizona.”

Williams’ absence leaves Mannion as the only lead guard on the roster. UC Irvine transfer Max Hazzard primarily played the 2 at his last school.

Dylan Smith played some point guard in his lone season at UNC Asheville in 2015-16, but he finished with more turnovers than assists.

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