My doctor told me if I had surgery I wouldn't be able to play at all. Since he said I could do physical therapy and see what happened, I went to physical therapy like every day of the summer, doing weight training, trying to strengthen my knee again. It's my senior year. I wanted to play so bad.
You've had a couple of tough collisions and falls this season, including one that forced you to sit out about a third of the Riverdale Baptist game. How do you keep bouncing back from those?
It happens a lot. It'll hurt. It'll be sore, but I ice, I pray and I take Motrin and it works for me.
Will you have surgery after the season?
I think I'm not going to do anything with my ACL, because it's not fully torn, but I am going to scope my knee out for my meniscus.
What moment of you sporting life would you most like to live over?
Last year at states. Looking back, I wish that we could have done a lot of the things we needed to to win states that time instead of losing. That was just a hard loss.
Are you superstitious?
A little bit. Before every game, I sleep. I don't talk to anybody, I just sleep. Then, I always pop a Motrin, pray and I always listen to the same song over and over and over again, "Ex-Factor" by Lauryn Hill.
What's your most prized possession and why?
My phone. I paid for my phone by myself with all of my saved-up money, and I don't know what I would do without it. I have an iPhone 4S.
Who do you look up to?
I look up to my older brother, Markese. He's 21. He was the first person in my family to actually go to college, and he guided me through high school. When I have problems, I go to him and talk to him. He's the one who actually motivated me to keep playing basketball after I got hurt.
How sorry will you be to see this basketball season end?
I will be so sad. I'll probably cry for two days straight, because it's my last year and in my senior year I got to do everything with my team. We're having a great season, and just the opportunity to go back to UMBC is so special and I love my team so much.
