The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga forwards were goofing around before practice Saturday.
For a few minutes in McKenzie Arena, neither looked injured. They looked athletic, talented and skilled with a basketball moving on an invisible string connected to their hands.
However, they’re still injured and still out — but not for long.
And coach John Shulman cannot wait to get his most athletic player, Harvey, and one of his most skilled, Cage, in the Mocs’ rotation.
“I want headaches, I need headaches, from having more players,” Shulman said. “Those are good headaches.”
Harvey has an appointment Monday during which a doctor could declare his broken left wrist healed and make him eligible to play this week — unlikely for Monday’s home game against UNC Greensboro but perhaps Thursday against The Citadel or Saturday against College of Charleston.
“Hopefully the doctor will give me some good news,” said Harvey, a sophomore. “I hope he’ll say I can play on Saturday against Charleston.”
Harvey broke his wrist when he fell on it during the Mocs’ win at Jacksonville State.
He missed most of last year with a broken foot but returned and made one of the memorable plays in the Southern Conference tournament title game when he dunked an offensive rebound with about 13 minutes to go in the first half.
“With the way my career has been going, I’m kind of used to being out,” Harvey said. “I haven’t been able to display my talents. That was just one play.”
That one play has been the highlight of his career so far. When he gets healthy, it could be just one in a long list of impressive plays.
Looking ahead to Saturday and the opponent that recently beat North Carolina, Shulman said Harvey “fits Charleston’s athleticism. The original idea was to be long and athletic, and we haven’t been able to do that.
“Dante, when he’s comfortable, is a coach-pleaser.”
Then there is Cage — a 6-foot-5 wing who spent two years at UNLV — who had been suffering from a stress fracture in his shin for months before undergoing surgery to insert a rod early last month.
His next appointment with the team orthopedist is on Jan. 29. But that could be moved up if rehabilitation results continue to be positive.
“This is the best I’ve felt in seven or eight months,” Cage said. “It hurt on my shin and I had no lift at all. Now I’m good; my right leg feels like my left.”