UAA's Mitchell back in top form after suffering season-ending injury last season

When UAA point guard Diante Mitchell went down with a broken foot in January, he found some support from an NBA superstar who suffered a similar basketball injury in college.

Mitchell grew up watching Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard play at Weber State near his hometown of Syracuse, Utah, and he had a connection to Lillard through one of his longtime trainers, who knew Lillard off the court.

He contacted Lillard on social media and Lillard responded.

"I reached out to him and he helped me out a ton, 'cause he had to do the same thing when he was at Weber  — had to redshirt a whole year (with a broken foot)," Mitchell said. "He basically just told me … 'Everything is gonna work out. You just gotta be patient, heal up and you'll be back for next season. Just take it easy, don't try to push it.'

"It was really nice of him to reach out and reply back, and help me out."

Mitchell is back to his old self this season for the UAA men's basketball team.

The second-year Seawolf ranks third in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a 3-1 assist-to-turnover ratio and his 83.3 percent free-throw percentage ranks second on the team.

But his offseason journey back to full health was not an easy one.

In addition to spending two months in a walking boot because of his broken foot, he had reconstructive shoulder surgery in the spring.

Mitchell hurt his shoulder earlier in the season, but doctors told him he was strong enough to play through the injury if he was careful.

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Once he broke his foot, Mitchell decided it was time to get his shoulder fixed.

"I had to get part of my rotator cuff fixed, my labrum fixed, and then I'd chipped off part of the bone in my shoulder, so they had to go in, put the bone back in place and then re-cover it with tissue to keep it stabilized," Mitchell said. "I'm not going to lie, it was a pretty bad rehab.

"They go in and tighten everything up so tight that when you're trying to get your motion back and all that, it's not always the most comfortable feeling in the world."

Mitchell said dealing with his injuries took a toll on him mentally. Prior to last season, the only time he'd missed time was when he sat out two games with a concussion during his senior year of high school.

He tried to cope by helping his teammates anyway he could.

"Even if I was struggling off the court mentally, when we came to practice and stuff like that, I tried to help as much as I could from the sideline, help some of our younger guys, even help (veteran point guard) Brian McGill," Mitchell said. "If there were things I'd see from the sideline, I'd point them out to him in games."

Over the summer, Mitchell went back to Utah to rehab. He returned to Anchorage in late July, feeling refreshed and ready for the season.

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"My body feels back to normal now," he said. "I don't feel anything in my foot, don't feel anything in my shoulder. I feel like I'm just back to myself playing again."

His play during this week's GCI Great Alaska Shootout proves it. He leads the Seawolves with 39 points and 10 assists through two games, both losses. He's looked particularly sharp from 3-point range, where he is 5 of 10.

"… I thought he turned the corner (this week)," UAA coach Rusty Osborne said after UAA's Wednesday loss to Buffalo. "I had to threaten to tell him that he's gotta shoot it when he's open or I'm going to take him out of the game."

Mitchell and the Seawolves lost their first two Shootout games each by six points.

They'll try for their first Shootout win against Drake at noon Saturday in the 7th-place game at the Alaska Airlines Center.