When Corbin Ray suffered a concussion in Texas Tech’s scrimmage against New Mexico, everyone expected him to miss about a week worth of practice.

Texas Tech's Darko Cohadarevic shoots against Washington's Matthew Bryan-Amaning during their game Thursday at United Spirit Arena in Lubbock. (Merissa Ferguson/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

A month later, Ray is still struggling to return to the court.

Ray’s absence leaves the Red Raiders without about half of their frontcourt options so far this season; senior Trevor Cook, who would be a senior, is already out for the year after his own career-ending injury. The pair of absences leave Tech with only two true post players in Darko Cohadarevic and Robert Lewandowski.

So far, the two say it hasn’t been much of a problem. Tech’s nonconference opponents tend to feature smaller, more athletic forwards who matchup well with the Red Raiders’ quick small forwards. Coach Pat Knight said he’s happy to use his team’s relatively new speed and athleticism to its advantage.

“From our offensive standpoint, I’d rather have Mike Singletary or Theron Jenkins in that four spot because they’re more athletic and harder to guard,” Knight said. “You’ll see us play small a lot more, where we’ll put Jenkins in at the five.”

Tech may even go with a five-guard lineup, particularly before Big 12 play begins. Once the Red Raiders are competing against other conference teams, though, they’ll come up against players like Washington’s Quincy Pondexter, who scored 32 points in Thursday’s game.

“It was kind of a wake-up call, because every team we play is going to have someone who could play in the Big 12,” Lewandowski said. “Every team is going to have someone who can outright score, but soon we’re going to face teams that don’t just have one or two guys who can guard us, they’re going to have that many who are future NBA players.”

For that reason, the Red Raiders remain hopeful they’ll have Ray back by the time Big 12 play begins. He tried to return to practice about a week after the concussion on Nov. 8, and played five minutes in Tech’s Nov. 24 win at Stephen F. Austin. Two days later, though, he rammed his head into an opponent’s chest during a routine practice, which led briefly to headaches. Tech’s medical staff believes he’d aggravated the injury.

He played the final minute against Samford on Nov. 28, but two days after that game caught an elbow to the head and began feeling more concussion symptoms: headaches, dizziness and balance problems.

Now team medical staff says Ray could be off the court for a month as he tries to fully recover, but the time frame could be difficult to judge because unlike a twisted ankle or torn knee, there’s no physical test to ensure a concussion is healed.

“The kid competes. He wants to play; that’s why he came here,” Knight said. “You’ve got to be careful because he’s one of those kids who will tell you what he thinks you need to hear so he can play, not thinking about his own health. We’re taking it slow this time around to be sure.”

Ray did not make the trip to Fort Worth for tonight’s game against TCU, and hasn’t been at practice lately. Cohadarevic and Lewandowski said it’s tough not having Ray around, both from a camaraderie standpoint and because they don’t get the same experience practicing against smaller forwards.

“We’re going hard every practice, especially on defense, for two, three hours,” Cohadarevic said. “What if something happened and he got hit again? We’re missing Corbin in drills, everything in practice every day. They have to put Theron or D’walyn (Jenkins) in for him when we’re doing drills for big men.”

There’s a possibility Ray might apply for a medical redshirt, but Knight said he’d prefer to get him back on the court. For one thing, the sophomore wants to play as soon and as much as possible. For another, Tech will need him in the Big 12.

Knight wants the option to play two posts at once, and if Cohadarevic and Lewandowski are constantly subbing in for one another it cannot happen that way. And if one of the pair gets in foul trouble or injured, there is no one on the bench to replace him.

A three-man rotation would be better.

Ray also adds another dimension to Tech’s frontcourt play. While Cohadarevic has a very physical game and Lewandowski’s size helps him when posting up, Ray is more versatile and a better outside shooter.

“He’s not a post threat, really, but he can guard the post really well because he’s more athletic so he can get around the big guys,” Knight said. “He’s really good at facing the basket and passing. From a defensive standpoint we don’t lose anything when he’s in, but from an offensive standpoint he’s different because he can set back screens and hit 3s.”

Lewandowski said he and Cohadarevic are careful not to hold back out of fear; “If you go out and play scared, you play tentative,” he said. “It’s just as bad as having one post guy.”

Neither forward played many minutes against Samford, knowing Washington and Pondexter would pose enough problems the pair needed to be well-rested for that game. They average a combined 30.6 minutes per game, but against Samford saw just 10.

Tech’s exceptional depth at small forward is also a bonus, particularly as long as the opponents remain undersized and athletic.

“The other day someone got hurt, a bump on the knee or something,” Cohadarevic said. “Coach didn’t want to wait until he got better on the sidelines, so he said ‘that’s why we have 12 guys, put someone else in.’

“We’ve got to adjust. We’ve only got two guys? Well, we’ve got to play, somehow.”

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