“I want to play so bad, but it’s not up to me anymore,” said senior Whitney Davis about getting back on the basketball court. Davis has suffered her second knee injury of the season and doesn’t know if she will be able to return to the courts in her last season.
She was playing well in her last season for the Lady Cougars until she got hurt for the first time. Even hurt, she did the rehab and got back on the court. She said having to adapt the way she plays because of her injury was a drastic change. “I didn’t think I was helping my team, even though they were telling me that I was doing well.”
A few games after returning to play, she hurt her knee again. Now it’s unknown whether she will come back. She said her doctor recommended that she not play. He also said that she will need surgery, but she is not considering that now. She said that because it’s her senior year, she wants to try to play anyway. But so soon after her second injury, it’s too early to know whether she can return. Everything will depend on her rehab, she said.
During her three years at Columbia College, Davis helped the Lady Cougars go to nationals for two years, and last year they went to the Sweet 16. She also was named first team all-conference two times and academic all-conference three times. This season, the Lady Cougars are doing well, having an overall record of two losses and 21 wins, including one for the team currently ranked first in the nation.
Now in rehab, Davis is waiting to see if she will be able to play again before the season ends. She said she is following all the practices and going to the games with her teammates, but it’s not enough. She said she wants to be there with them, playing. “I’m happy for them because they are doing really well, but I feel outcast,” she said. “I understand that they have to keep going on, keep playing. But feeling replaceable is the worst feeling.”
Davis became emotional when she was talking about her injury and being off the courts, and she struggled to say what her best memories of her time with the Lady Cougars would be. “It’s so many things,” she said. “Times with my teammates—they have been there for me a lot. Times like this.” Davis said she sometimes thinks that some people don’t understand the difficulty of her situation. She said only people who have already experienced it would know how hard it is to do rehab and still not know whether they will be able to play again. “It’s all I think about,” she said.
Senior Whitney Davis in her last season with the Lady Cougars.
1 comment:
Whitney Davis is probably one of the greatest guards in school history, and the injury is unfortunate. I hope she gets back to playing form and is able to play some of her senior season. The Lady Cougars are playing really well this year and I think this is the year we take the championship.
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