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Former Penguin Hain working his way back from injury
Hain has his eyes
on professional ball
By STEVE WILAJ
YOUNGSTOWN
It has been a long four-plus months for Bobby Hain.
But throughout the process of battling back from a broken left foot he suffered on Dec. 21, the former Youngstown State power forward learned something about himself.
“Just how much I really do love the sport of basketball,” said Hain, who missed YSU’s final 19 games due to the season-ending injury, but is now (by his estimation) 90-percent healthy. “Not being able to be out there to help my team in times they had some trouble, it really hurt me.
“It really opened my eyes that this game can be taken away from you at any second by an injury. So now I know that I really need to stay healthy and how much the game means to me.”
The 6-foot-10 right-hander from Jupiter, Fla. is expecting to get a chance to revitalize his basketball career, professionally, overseas.
Hain — who finished his four-year YSU career with 1,187 points (tied for 21st in program history) and 679 career rebounds — is in the process of hiring an agent to help him do so.
“I have a couple more meetings this week, but I should have an agent before I graduate [this spring semester] or right after I graduate — around May 12,” said Hain, a communications major. “Then, that whole process of where they’re going to put me starts. I’m looking forward to it.”
In talking to a handful of prospective agents, Hain has been told that he has garnered strong interest from pro leagues in Spain, France, Portugal, Germany, Finland and Greece.
“They said — with my whole career [at YSU] — I’ve put myself in a good spot even though I went down with the injury,” he said. “So it’ll just be them working for me and trying to find the best deal, as well as the best fit for my career overseas.”
When Hain eventually plays his first game overseas (wherever it may be), it will be his first contest since breaking his left foot at Notre Dame just days before Christmas. The injury occurred just minutes into the game and happened in a freak way — untouched, running down the court.
Instead of rushing him back into action, YSU held out Hain — who averaged 12.4 points and 6.3 rebounds in 11 games last season — the rest of the 2015-16 campaign in an effort to best set him up for his professional career.
In turn, the past four months have included a heavy dose of rehabilitation.
“We’ve done tons of stuff — from bone stems every day to slow, but steady, treadmill workouts and improving speed every day,” Hain said. “Then squat thrusts, jumping drills to get back the impact of going up for a rebound, to just running and jogging and then sprinting.”
As a freshman in 2012-13, Hain appeared in 33 games (four starts) for the Penguins. He then started 31 games a sophomore (averaging 11.1 points and 7.7 rebounds), before starting 32 games as a junior and recording a career-best 14.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
He’s back to basketball-action once again, working on drills every day while also participating in YSU’s open-gym sessions.
Finally — with four long, tiresome months in the books — a healthy Hain is nearing his return to the game he loves.
“The foot is doing good,” he said. “I still do rehab and workouts to keep up with it. But I’ve been playing — and it was sore at first — but the pain started going away after a little while. So it’s come back good and I’m just ready to go.”