Wooten Back On The Block

A holiday meal came a month late for Kenny Wooten.

It was back on Dec. 21 at Baylor that Oregon's sophomore post suffered a broken jaw, when an opposing player crashed into Wooten under the boards. Soon after, Wooten had surgery to insert a titanium plate into the left side of his face.

Since then, Wooten has been limited to soft foods — at first primarily apple sauce, and then protein shakes. But on Tuesday night of this week, UO head coach Dana Altman saw Wooten in the team dining hall working on a pile of mashed potatoes, and pulling chicken from the bone in small chunks.

Wooten is still another month away from being cleared to chew solid foods. But he's finding a way to make it work in the interim.

"We've been trying to get protein drinks down him and that," Altman said. "But there's only so much of those you can drink."

Similarly, Wooten is finding ways to make it work on the court for the Ducks, who host Washington in Matthew Knight Arena on Thursday (6 p.m., ESPN2). After missing four games with the broken jaw, Wooten returned last week in the desert, and helped the Ducks knock off Arizona on its home court.

Wooten returned to action wearing a protective mask, which he'll probably don as a precaution the rest of this season. But enduring the mask is better than sitting on the bench.

"It is kind of annoying to wear it in a game," Wooten said. "But I can't complain. I can play, so …"

Wooten's return didn't only lift his spirits but those of his teammates as well. After the win at Arizona, the Ducks marveled at the sight of Wooten back in the post defensively, using his long wing span and amazing athleticism to protect the rim.

"You ever play a video game and on the slider you can turn something up tremendously, to like 99?" senior Paul White said. "And it's just ridiculous? It's almost unfair? ... I think truly we have the best shot blocker in the nation in him."

Wooten sure looked like it last year against the Huskies. The Ducks swept two games against UW in 2017-18, holding Washington to 27.8 percent shooting in Eugene and 38.6 percent shooting in Seattle. In those two games, Wooten blocked a combined 11 shots.

On Thursday, UW brings a perfect 5-0 Pac-12 record to Eugene. The Huskies are the last remaining unbeaten team in conference play, after the Ducks knocked Arizona from the ranks of the unbeaten last week.

"We figured out how to win last year," Wooten said. "We've just got to do the same thing."

The formula wasn't complicated, but it also won't be easily replicated. Along with playing stifling defense in both wins last season, Oregon combined for 36 assists on 49 field goal — ridiculously efficient ball movement — and had a positive rebounding margin in both games.

"It's not a big secret," Altman said. "You gotta move the ball, and gotta hit the boards."

And you've got to play defense. Which for the Ducks is much more effectively done with Wooten guarding the rim.

He'll do so despite still working to add the last few pounds of the estimated 20 he lost in the immediate aftermath of his surgery. He'll do so while enduring the discomfort of the mask. And he'll do so knowing there's a risk, despite every available precaution being taken, of being injured again.

"I go out there with the same physicality," Wooten said. "If I break it again, that would be unfortunate. But I like to give my all."

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Players Mentioned

Paul White

Kenny Wooten

University of Oregon Athletics