Better, faster, stronger: Junior forward returns to the court less than a year after tearing ACL
This June, redshirt junior Jewel Cotton could only run up and down the basketball court once.
But for her, this was an accomplishment considering her past six months.
Off to the best start of her collegiate career, Cotton and the Central Michigan women’s basketball team played Oregon on Black Friday last year, Nov. 28.
Cotton contributed only eight points and three rebounds. With 12:33 remaining, she was fouled under the basket and left the floor with a knee injury. She tore her left ACL.
“I was in shock,” Cotton said. “I was really hesitant to attack that game, and the one moment I had a downhill attack, I just came down wrong.”
It was the most severe injury Cotton experienced in her career and it sidelined her for the duration of her sophomore season.
In hindsight, Cotton said the injury was something that changed the way she approaches the game.
“Some people feel like it’s a freak accident,” Cotton said. “I think it was one of those things that needed to happen to help me slow down mentally. I feel like my game has picked up greatly from the injury.”
The recovery process was frustrating for Cotton. She had never been away from the court for so long, and it was a difficult transition.
“It was hard, but we got through it,” Cotton said. “It was something new for me, since I had never had surgery. I was doped up on the meds for most of the time.”
Cotton’s best friend, roommate and teammate senior Chelsea Lynn was by her side every step of the way, constantly providing words of encouragement.
“Her recovery was tough,” Lynn said. “I would talk to her everyday like, ‘Hey, you have to keep pushing, don’t ever get down on yourself. If you’re going to work, you’ve got to work because if you take a day off, all it’s going to do is put you back further.’”
Since her return, Cotton has been one of the Chippewas’ most consistent players. She is averaging 10.6 points and eight rebounds per game, helping CMU to a 4-1 record. She’s also played 28 minutes per game, the third-most on the team.
“I’m excited to have Jewel back,” said senior guard Da’Jourie Turner. “She’s improved so much. She’s been out for like over a year, and she’s really hungry to get back out there, and she’s very beneficial to the team.”
As she sat out, Cotton found a new way to make an impact for the Chippewas. The Harper Woods native spent the rest of last season on the sideline as one of the team’s biggest cheerleaders. That helped gain respect from her teammates.
“It was a new role,” Cotton said. “I cheered my team on, and I was in here as much as I could be. Just so they knew that, regardless of my injury, I was here to show support.”
Cotton needed help from her teammates when she first returned to practice and scrimmages.
“At first it was a little scary,” Cotton said. “Just the help of my team has me feeling a lot more comfortable on the floor, but it is still a scary thing because you’re scared you won’t come back how you were. It’s kind of a new journey for me.”
Cotton said she has to continue to fight to delete the doubt and fear from the injury out of her mind.
“I’ve talked to so many people that hurt themselves and they always say, ‘I’m stronger, faster and better than I was before,’” she said. “But I (thought), ‘That doesn’t always happen. It could be different for me. I could come back and not be the same.' Of course that always happens, and you have to fight through that. That’s what made me stronger mentally, getting through that.”
CMU Head Coach Sue Guevara said Cotton will be one of the Chippewas’ most important players as the season rolls along.
“She’s our most versatile player. She’s our lion,” she said. “I expect her to lead us in rebounding, I expect her to lead us in scoring and I expect to hear her mouth.”
Lynn said she’s grateful to have her friend back on the court after such a long-awaited return.
“I’ve been waiting for her, I’ve been pushing her and getting in her head,” Lynn said. “She’s on a mission and I’m just glad I’m with her on this mission. She’s going to work.”
Even with 10 underclassmen and only four upperclassmen on CMU’s roster, Cotton said she doesn’t feel any added stress to produce.
“I believe it’s only pressure if you accept it as pressure,” Cotton said. “I’m accepting it as a challenge. I would like to be a stat-filler. I don’t have any specific expectations. I just want to play hard and not play timid because of the injury because I feel better than before.”
As her conditioning continues to improve, Cotton said that moment she was first able to run on the court again is one she’ll cherish for awhile.
“I was only able to go down and back,” she said. “That was probably the best feeling ever, from sitting out almost a whole season. I didn’t do much, but I was able to run up and down. That was the best day.”