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Provo • Kyle Collinsworth's recovery from a devastating knee injury suffered in the West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament championship game last March is "on track," the BYU point guard said Wednesday afternoon.

"I feel like I am getting better every day. It is just now a matter of getting into shape," Collinsworth said. "My knee feels good, my body feels good. … Today is the best I have felt in seven months, and it was a big day for me. I felt like I made an improvement, so it was good."

Friday is the next big test for Collinsworth's right knee, which is protected by a brace he plans on wearing all season. He will participate in a full-contact scrimmage for the first time since the Cougars began practicing nearly two weeks ago.

Coach Dave Rose said Collinsworth has made strides in virtually every practice, doing more and more each day.

"I think now it is just an issue of confidence and strength and stamina, and just getting himself in a spot where his body feels really comfortable after the seven-month layoff," Rose said. "He hasn't had any setbacks where he comes back the next day and we can't do this or that because of a knee issue, which has been good."

Rose and Collinsworth said it is not certain yet whether the junior will play in the Cougar Tipoff intrasquad game on Wednesday at the Marriott Center.

Austin is ailing

Projected starting forward Nate Austin hasn't practiced the past few days due to a sore back.

"Nate is such a hard worker, and he's a real energy player," Rose said. "We will probably rest him for a little while, just get him feeling better."

Although a few players here and there have been held out of contact drills a practice or two the last few weeks, Rose said there is "nothing serious right now that we are concerned about" in terms of injuries.

No-loss Neilson

Assuming Austin's injury doesn't linger, the Cougars should be deeper in the frontcourt this season, especially when forward Jamal Aytes becomes eligible in mid-December. Former football player Corbin Kaufusi has garnered a lot of preseason attention, but Rose said returned missionary Isaac Neilson, a 6-foot-11 freshman from Mission Viejo, Calif., is having an outstanding camp.

"The one thing that is really impressive about Isaac is that in all the live stuff we do in practice, we keep track of wins and losses, no matter what group you get put on every day," Rose said. "And Isaac's teams tend to win a lot more than they don't. What impresses me about a big guy like that, are the second- and third- and fourth-effort plays you see on film the next day.

I think that relates a lot to why he has been successful in practice."

Briefly

The West Coast Conference will conduct its men's and women's basketball media day on Monday at the Time Warner Cable Sports Studios in El Segundo, Calif. The annual preseason coach's polls and all-conference teams will be released at the event.

Twitter: @drewjay —

Key dates

Monday • West Coast Conference basketball media day in Los Angeles

Wednesday • Cougar Tipoff intrasquad game

Nov. 1 • Exhibition opener vs. Colorado School of Mines

Nov. 14 • Season opener vs. Long Beach State