Anthony Bennett sat out Wednesday’s practice due to a shoulder injury and is considered “probable” for Saturday’s game at Nevada-Reno, but the official diagnosis could be a long-term concern for Bennett and the Rebels.

Bennett was limited to four minutes against Wyoming on Saturday after he woke up with soreness in his left shoulder, and at first the team thought he may have slept on it wrong. But further tests showed otherwise.

“Right now we’re treating him as having brachial neuritis,” team trainer Dave Tomchek told the assembled media after Wednesday’s practice. “We’ve done MRIs, we’ve done ultrasound, and right now we’ve determined that there’s no structural damage in the shoulder.”

Tomchek went on to say that there’s no timetable as to when the issue would be completely resolved, but that Bennett will receive treatment throughout the week and that the freshman big man remains hopeful about playing again soon.

“[Bennett] believes that if he keeps going in the game, gets his adrenaline flowing, there’s a good chance he’ll be able to play,” Tomchek said.

Bennett did not talk to the media after practice, instead opting to head straight to the trainer’s room for treatment.

Dave Rice said Bennett would try to practice on Thursday and labeled him as probable for Saturday, but added that he would not be surprised if Bennett ended up being unavailable for the game.

According to the Johns Hopkins medical website, brachial neuritis is “a disease that is typically characterized by pain or loss of function in the nerves that carry signals to and from the brain and spinal cord.”

The disease affects the neck, shoulders and arms. After the initial pain subsides (typically a few days), the arm and shoulder can be left in a weakened state, or in some cases, completely paralyzed.

The website also says the condition is “fairly rare,” and that the cause is unknown. As for treatment, brachial neuritis is supposed to resolve on its own “over the course of a few months or a few years.”

It all sounds scary, but it’s too early to know exactly how severe Bennett’s injury is. We’ll know more about his status after Thursday’s practice.

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