It has been more than two years since guard, Kyle Collinsworth has taken the court for BYU, but he’s getting back into playing shape and will be ready by the start of the 2013-2014 season.
Two months ago Collinsworth returned from his LDS mission in Vladivistok, Russia. He says he didn’t even pick up a basketball in those two years he was gone.
“I don’t think playing basketball five, 10 times is going to make a difference. I was out there to be a missionary,” Collinsworth said.
Collinsworth is returning to the Cougars in a new conference. BYU played in the Mountain West when he left and now plays in the West Coast Conference.
“The last game I won at BYU was against Gonzaga so one thing I want to do is go and get another win against Gonzaga. It’s been a while for us. But I’m excited. There’s a lot of good teams in our conference, it will be different,” Collinsworth said.
After Kyle’s brother, Chris, had to call his playing career short due to multiple knee injuries after his mission, he’s trying to be more cautious.
“When my brother got home he obviously struggled, so we had a talk that when I got home things would be different.”
He’s had to learn patience as he tries to get into playing shape. But Collinsworth feels like he’s improving and making strides in the two months he has been home.
I’ve actually made a lot of progress. I’ve been surprised with my progress so far. The key is no setbacks. I gotta listen to my body,” Collinsworth said. “The hardest part about the whole deal is patience. Sometimes I think I’m ready to play a game right now but I’m not. So I just have to really be patient in the whole process.”
Collinsworth is using every day he can to get back to playing shape quickly to be ready for this upcoming season.
“In the mornings we have individual workouts with coaches for 30 minutes, straight shooting and running. After that I shoot with my shooting coach for an hour, hour and a half. Then I go to weights and conditioning, then I play pickup ball,” Collinsworth said.
“I want to play with the ball in my hands, so whatever that means. I think with our team we push a lot so it’s not really going to matter. Whoever gets the rebound, Me, Ty, Matt, we’re going to go,” Collinsworth said.
His role hasn’t been specified yet. It may be a little different with Matt Carlino already running the point. But Collinsworth doesn’t see it that way.
“We played yesterday on the same team in pickup. We won four straight games no problem, found each other open, used each other off the pick and roll. I don’t think we’ll have a problem. We’re both players, we’re going to run and we’re going to get a lot of baskets,” Collinsworth said.
It appears Collinsworth has made good progress since he’s been back with no setbacks. He’s working hard and adjusting well. If his progress continues, don’t be surprised if he makes an immediate impact this season, much like Tyler Haws did after returning from his mission last year.
