It doesn’t seem that long ago, yet five-and-a-half months ago Louisville Cardinals guard Kevin Ware suffered a gruesome right leg injury against the Duke Blue Devils.
The sophomore guard came off the bench during the 2012-2013 season averaging 4.5 points and 1.8 rebounds in 16.6 minutes of action. He scored a career high 11 points in the NCAA tournament against the Oregon Ducks, seven rebounds in a win over Missouri-Kansas City, five assists against Colorado State, registered four steals twice in wins over Missouri-Kansas City and Seton Hall and set a high in blocks of two in another game against Seton Hall.
For some the injury signaled the end of Ware’s college basketball career even after he had successful surgery to fix the broken leg that required a rod inserted into the tibia. That just isn’t the case as an Instagram video posted today shows him dunking.
Head coach Rick Pitino has made it clear that he will not rush Ware back to the court. He said “I don’t think Kevin will step on the court early in the season. He will just start playing basketball in October. He’ll start working out. He’s almost completely healed, but he hasn’t stepped on the court since last March, so it’s going to take some time. I’m looking more like it’s going to be second semester for him to be 100 percent or close to it.”
The Cardinals have Russ Smith coming back along with Montrezl Harrell, the Final Four Most Outstanding Player Luke Hancock and junior college transfer Chris Jones who is the one who posted the video. With plenty of depth on the roster Pitino is doing the right thing by not rushing back Ware.