Sammy Zeglinski's knee rehab 'on schedule, if not ahead of schedule'

Five weeks ago today, junior guard Sammy Zeglinski underwent surgery to repair cartilage damage in his left knee. Zeglinski said Monday, prior to Virginia's 106-63 loss to Washington, that his rehabilitation process is "on schedule, if not ahead of schedule," meaning he remains on track to return to play in mid-December.

Zeglinski said he has started to jog on the court and that he has been cleared to practice jump shots. Right now, he said, the focus is on making his quad muscles as strong as possible.The next seven days will be critical in his recovery, Zeglinski said, because if all goes well he'll be able to begin practicing with the Cavaliers to some extent around the beginning of December.

"It depends on how my knee reacts, really," Zeglinski said. "If it swells up, obviously I've got to lay off it a little bit. But it hasn't swelled up in a while."

Especially after tallying 17 turnovers in a 43-point defeat, it seems Virginia could use another experienced hand to try to steady its relatively young roster. Zeglinski led the Cavaliers in three-points field goals, assists and steals in each of the past two seasons. He averaged 8.9 points and 3.8 rebounds per game last year.

"It's a little frustrating because I've still got some knee pain," Zeglinski said. "I just want to play. Coming to Maui and watching is like torture for me. Being in Maui is nice, but the Maui Invitational is what I dreamt of playing in as a kid. So being here and not being able to play hurts, but it just motivates me to come back and be ready for conference play."