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Dispatch

Hoskins believes injury made her a better player

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Jim Massie
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


MIKE MUNDEN DISPATCH Ohio State?s Brandie Hoskins has worked hard to rehabilitate a torn Achilles? tendon.


What seemed like the worst moment in the basketball life of Brandie Hoskins dramatically changed in mid-dribble last March in Purdue?s Mackey Arena.
Ohio State was 79 seconds from a 79-69 upset loss to Boston College in the second round of the NCAA Tournament when the junior guard caught a pass and collapsed on the court in agony.
"When I dropped the ball, I thought somebody had kicked me," Hoskins said. "I was waiting on the ref to call a foul. When I watched the film, I could see on my face that I was looking around for a call. That?s when I felt the pain. That?s the most pain I?ve experienced physically since I?ve been playing basketball."
Hoskins didn?t know the cause yet, but soon would learn that she had ruptured her right Achilles? tendon. Surgery and 12 tortuous weeks on crutches followed with tough months of rehabilitation ahead.
When the defending Big Ten champions begin practice this week, Hoskins will be on the floor even though she won?t be 100 percent. The future, however, is no longer as murky as it appeared after the surgery. Hoskins is certain that she will be ready to play sooner than later.
"I?m jogging and running," she said. "I?m shooting. I?m jumping. I?m coming around real good. I can?t give you an exact time, but my rehab is going real well. My ankle is healing well. It?s about being patient and listening to what (OSU trainer Chalisa Fonza) tells me to do."
Being patient, however, wasn?t among the strengths that Hoskins brought to OSU from Dayton Chaminade-Julienne High School. The thought of being without basketball still brings tears today.
"I remember after the injury walking on crutches the first day ? I don?t think I was completely here," Hoskins said. "Basketball means everything to me. It?s all I do. I play all the time, nonstop every day. It was hard to accept that I was hurt."
Questions about her availability for this season surfaced quickly. Coach Jim Foster never wavered in his belief that Hoskins would provide the answer.
"Sometimes these injuries have reputations," Foster said. "What were considered catastrophic injuries 20 years ago are today almost routinely taken care of because they?ve gotten so much better at the actual procedure and so much better at the rehab.
"A lot of times people come back stronger and even more aware and in tune with their body. The mere getting back pushes some athletes to places they?ve never been."
In Hoskins? case, that place initially was a chair in the practice gym, where she worked for hours on her shooting form.
"When I was in the boot, I?d sit there and shoot," she said. "Overall, I think it probably made me a better player and a stronger player because this summer I got to work on form shooting and my left-hand dribble."
Foster watched her perseverance. Nobody had to tell him how much Hoskins wanted to come back.
"She is one of those kids who goes to the gym and plays all the time," he said. "And she?s good at it. It?s not like you?re a 15- or 20-handicap golfer and you put the clubs away for the winter months.
"It becomes a very reflective time. You learn a lot about yourself, and ask yourself a lot of questions, and answer a lot of them."
Beyond improving her mid-range game and left hand, Hoskins added something else to her wish list for the upcoming season.
"I want to be a leader on the court ? vocally, mentally and physically," she said.
She knows that her teammates are watching. The Buckeyes have five freshmen who have yet to play a college game. She can see herself in them and laughed at a reminder about how much she hated preseason conditioning as a freshman.
"They?re cool," Hoskins said. "They?re freshmen. They?re just getting into it. You don?t know what you?re getting yourself into. You go from being the best player on your high school team to just another player in one of the best programs in the country. You learn."
Foster expects Hoskins to teach.
"She?s already started," he said. "How you handle an injury is part sometimes of an athletic career. Five freshmen walked in and they?ve watched her in the rehab process all summer. That?s a lot of what leadership is."
Hoskins can?t wait to play again and show everyone what she has learned.
"I think God was teaching me to be patient, strong and to take nothing for granted," she said. "I think this injury has made me a stronger player and a better person."
jmassie@dispatch.com