BearTalk

Coach Mike Montgomery said redshirt sophomore center Taylor Harrison, sidelined the past year-and-a-half by knee problems, has virtually no chance of making a return this season. And he hinted that Harrison’s Cal career could be over.

“I feel bad for the kid. He’s tried to get ready. I think he sees the way we play that he could be very productive, because he’s an inside presence and bangs and boards and defends,” Montgomery said at his weekly press conference. “But right now, not any good news.”

Montgomery said Harrison tried to resume practicing a couple weeks ago.

“It  looked actually pretty good for a couple days. He was pretty excited about it,” Montgomery said. “It just got real sore again and swelled back up and threw him back into a tizzy.”

Any expectation he could play this year?

“No,” Montgomery said. “We’re getting into six weeks left, and he hasn’t been able to practice at all. We had hoped he would get the knee to the point where he could practice and learn what we’re doing and then see how the knee held up, kind of like what Haroer (Kamp) did. But he’s not been able to get to that point. It’s going to be very difficult.”

Is there some chance he might not play again?

“Well, he’s aware that he’s had a couple surgeries. They could go back in, I suuppose, and try something else. I don’t think he’s real anxious to do that. Like with most joint injuries, there’s obviously some trauma and stuff going on in there, (where) there might be a point where it makes more sense to get off that thing.

“I think he’s at some point he’s going to have to make that decision of what’s up next for him.”

Harrison has not played since his “true” freshman season of 2006-07, when he saw action in 31 games, averaging 0.7 points and 1.3 rebounds. He had surgery on his left knee in late March 2007 to repair a torn meniscus and sat out last season as a medical redshirt.

During the fall of 2007, Harrison actually left school for a time, going home to Southern California deal with clinical depression. He got that under control and returned to schoo, but needed  a second surgery last June.

If Harrison retires from basketball, his scholarship could be the one Cal gives to one of two recruits who signed letters of intent in November. The Bears currently have just one available scholarship for next season.