Rehab woes don’t slow heart of Glass Boardman’s sophomore has become an ACL expert

By JOE SCALZO

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

BOARDMAN — This story begins 18 months ago inside a gymnasium at Robert Morris University in Moon Township, Pa.

A quick, athletic guard named Doriyon Glass, just a few weeks removed from graduating the eighth grade, was playing in a pickup game at a summer basketball skills camp. She went up for a layup, landed awkwardly on her left knee, heard a pop and fell to the floor.

“It was the worst pain I’ve ever felt,” said Glass. “I was screaming and crying.”

Her leg swelled up and Glass spent the night in pain. Her mother, Dorothy Collins, picked her up from camp and took her to see Dr. Joseph Stefko, an orthopedic surgeon in Canfield, who confirmed their worst fears.

Before the camp, Glass had never heard of an anterior cruciate ligament.

She was about to become an expert.

The ACL is the main stabilizing ligament of the knee, joining the tibia (the main shinbone) with the femur (the thighbone).

There are an estimated 80,000 ACL tears each year in the U.S. and two-thirds of those occur during sports. Most of those come during sports such as basketball, football and soccer which feature cutting, pivoting and jumping.

Because an ACL tear disrupts the blood flow, the body can’t heal itself. Surgery is pretty much the only option.

And, unfortunately for Glass, studies show that females are about five times more likely than males to suffer an ACL injury.

The question is, Why?

“There’s no conclusive answer to that question,” said Stefko. “There are different theories.”

One is that female’s ligaments are looser than males, which may indicate a predisposition toward injury. Hormonal differences may also play a part.

Another theory involves the structure of the female knee. The notch portion of the knee, where the ACL is contained, is smaller than males, which may make a tear more likely. Another theory is that males have superior proprioception — i.e., men are more aware of the position of their bodies in space and are better able to land correctly.

Over the past 20 years, ACL surgery has gone from being an intrusive procedure with significant rehab to a fairly common arthroscopic procedure that requires no hospitalization. Because the incisions are so small, there are fewer surgical risks. Most athletes can resume playing within six months and be back at full strength within a year.

“It’s been revolutionary,” said Stefko. “You can begin rehabilitating your knee almost immediately.”

When Dorothy Bowers (now Collins) was a standout basketball player at YSU in the mid-1980s, she saw several athletes suffer ACL injuries — and suffer even more with surgery and rehab. Stefko’s upbeat analysis of her daughter’s injury opened her eyes.

“I had two friends who tore their ACL and they had a scar from the top of the knee to the midpoint of the knee,” said Collins, who holds the school record for career points with 2,324. “I didn’t realize how far they’d come since then.”

After an MRI confirmed Glass’s ACL tear, Collins took her daughter to Dr. Freddie Fu, the chairman of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh. Fu performed the surgery and Glass’s rehab went well.

“My flexibility came back and the rehab didn’t hurt that bad,” said Glass. “I wasn’t concerned about getting hurt again. I felt stronger and the brace I was wearing made me more stable.”

Glass, one of the nation’s top-rated freshman point guards, returned late in the basketball season and was able to play a half-dozen games for Boardman’s varsity team. She sat on the bench for the first part of the season, watching, learning ... sometimes even crying. But it was a good experience, she said.

“I think the adversity made me stronger, I really do,” she said. “I cried a lot, especially the first few games of the season. I’d have to just dribble and shoot while everyone else played.

“It was hard.”

Her coach, Ron Moschella, knew what she was going through. His three daughters, Christine, Nadine and Joleen, all suffered ACL tears and he’s lost several players through the years to the same injury.

“I don’t really like to talk about it,” said Moschella. “It takes a lot out of you as a coach. It’s not a nice thing to watch your player go through. The operation isn’t bad, it’s the recovery and the rehab.

“You just feel really bad.”

The team rallied around Glass, making the adjustment easier. She ran track in the spring, making the district finals in the 200-meter dash, and seemed poised for a breakout season the next winter. She wasn’t worried about another injury.

“I just wanted to play again,” she said. “After watching all those games, I wanted to play every game like it was my last.”

Then, in a basketball camp at Westminster last summer, Glass went up for a layup, landed awkwardly on her right knee and, again, felt pain.

“It didn’t hurt as bad,” said Glass. “They had a trainer do the jar test [a common flexibility test that can reveal ACL tears] and they didn’t think it was the ACL.

“I kept thinking, ‘I didn’t do it again.’ I was praying that I didn’t do it again. It didn’t feel the same and I didn’t hear anything.”

Collins again took her daughter to see Dr. Stefko. Again, they had an MRI. Again, their worst fears were revealed. Again, Glass had surgery.

“I just cried,” said Glass. “I told my mom I was going to quit. I couldn’t go through it again for six months.

“But the more I thought about it, the more I realized basketball is my life. What would I do without it? I knew I wouldn’t be able to quit.”

About 20 percent of athletes tear both ACLs, Stefko said. (Tennessee standout Candace Parker is the most obvious example.) If the rehab is done correctly, athletes are less likely to tear their ACLs again, he said, although a lot depends on the specific person. Repeat tears aren’t career-ending, but many people opt to give up sports rather than go through the rehab again.

“Usually after having two or three surgeries, people naturally slow down just because of fear,” said Stefko.

So far, that hasn’t happened to Glass. Her speed and agility have returned. She performs specific exercises before and after playing — she emphasized every athlete should warm up and cool down — and her main concern is rust, not ability. Glass said she won’t play scared.

“I just want to play,” she said.

And that’s where this story gets good.

Glass has practiced with the Spartans the past few weeks and will make her return Friday against Ursuline.

A lot of athletes would have quit by now. Glass didn’t.

She’s earned this moment.

“I’m really excited,” she said. “I wouldn’t wish this on anyone, but I was never really upset. Sometimes I thought it wasn’t fair, but you can’t change it.

“It’s happened more than twice to other girls. It’s not the end of the world. You can still come back.”

scalzo@vindy.com