Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 19, 1993 TAG: 9312240201
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
A year and a half after reconstructive knee surgery, McConnell should just be returning to the basketball floor at Pulaski County High School. But the 16-year-old junior made her comeback last season, well ahead of schedule.
Two seasons ago, she was fast making a name for herself as a flashy freshman before she suffered one of the most debilitating injuries in basketball - she tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee. Recovery varies from person to person, but it takes most players a year to return to the court.
It took McConnell five months.
She had the surgery in late March1992 and came through the reconstruction in better shape than a carpetbagger. By August she was playing in pickup games. She was there in November when practice started and she played in every one of Pulaski County's games, returning to the starting lineup full time by midseason.
``I think I'm a competitor,'' said McConnell, a 5-foot-6-inch guard. ``I didn't want to sit back and watch our team play.''
She didn't sit much. Splitting time between the point and shooting guard spots, McConnell averaged about nine points per game for the Cougars, who went 13-9 last year after two straight appearances in the Group AAA finals.
``There were doubts that she would be able to play,'' said Pulaski County Coach Rod Reedy, ``but I don't think Carrie ever gave it a second thought. She really wanted to play.''
Two seasons ago, McConnell was a freshman starter on a team that would go to the state finals without her. Playing alongside point guard Terri Garland, who's now playing at Virginia Tech, McConnell was averaging about seven points per game when she injured her knee at midseason.
During a game with Franklin County, she collided with an opposing player and banged her knee, but she continued to play. After resting a week, she returned to play against Cave Spring but was injured again when she was shoved to the floor. This time, the injury was severe.
She underwent three operations in the next two months. The first was an arthroscopic procedure that revealed the torn ligament, the last two were performed by Dr. Frank McCue at the University of Virginia, who reconstructed the knee and later removed some scar tissue.
She spent the next five months in a rigorous rehabilitation program, which is often more painful than the surgery itself. Working closely with Radford University head trainer Jackie Clouse and student trainer Pat Holloway, McConnell made rapid progress.
Three days after the surgery, McConnell was doing stretching exercises. Within a few weeks, she was lifting weights, running a couple of miles a day, biking 10 miles on the New River Trail near her Draper home and doing the step machine ``about a million times.''
``That's proof that she was committed,'' said Clouse. ``[Full recovery following surgery] doesn't just happen in a year or whenever. You have to work at it. She was very willing to come in and do what she had to do. She never complained. She always came in with a positive attitude.''
Although she played well last season, it was obvious that she had lost some of the quickness that had made her a terror on both the offensive and defensive sides of the floor.
``I felt so slow,'' McConnell said. ``I just had to shoot from outside because I couldn't drive to the basket. On defense, too, I couldn't keep up with people I should have been able to keep up with.''
That's changed this year. McConnell is again driving to the basket and tormenting opponents defensively. She scored 17 points in the Cougars' season-opening 81-31 win over Patrick Henry. She doesn't even wear a knee brace when she plays.
``I think she's just about fully recovered,'' said Reedy. ``She's about where we would have expected her to be if she had never been injured. Her quickness is back and her confidence is back.''
Carrie McConnell is back to her old self, but she never really went away. After three knee surgeries and arduous rehabilitation, most basketball players would be glad simply to be playing at all.
``I didn't want to be like the average athlete,'' said McConnell.
She's not.
by CNB