Feb 11, 2014 11:32 PM EST By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

There's a silver lining (for Arizona, and maybe for both parties) to the foot injury that ended starting forward Brandon Ashley's season: He'll likely return for 2014-2015. Prior to the injury, he envisioned himself entering the summer's NBA draft, ESPN reported.

"I wasn't 100 percent [about coming back] before the injury," Ashley told ESPN. "But I've thought about it, and there's a very, very, very strong chance I'll be back at the University of Arizona next year."

NBAdraft.net would advise him to return, even before the injury. The prediction site only has him ranked #46 on their big board, and doesn't believe he'll get drafted if he enters this year. Next year, however, they have him in the #19 slot. Likely, Ashley wouldn't give up his college eligibility if he wasn't convinced he wasn't first round material -- or if someone else didn't convince him. Of course, rankings change after the NCAA tournament and during pre-draft workouts. Personally, I'm  high on Ashley and skeptical of Marcus Smart's top five projection. Even before his incident, I thought he'd fall out of the top ten. Time will tell.

Behind an odd looking (but not necessarily bad looking) jump shot and an all-around game, the 6-foot-8 sophomore was averaging 11.5 ppg on 52 percent shooting along with 5.8 rpg. His skills bear a some resemblance to that of freshman forward Aaron Gordon (who also has very similar statistics).

With Gordon and junior guard Nick Johnson candidates for next year's draft (projected to go 21^st and 31^st, respectively) Arizona will need Ashley, just as Ashley probably needs Arizona. He improved his scoring average 4 points from last season. A similar jump will be expected next year if he stays and either Gordon and/or Johnson leave.

Ashely had surgery on his foot Tuesday, ESPN reported. He won't return this year.

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