Tennessee survived an injury scare Saturday during its second women's basketball practice of the preseason.
At least that was the initial prognosis after senior forward Alex Fuller got tangled up with teammate Angie Bjorklund while pursuing a rebound and tumbled to the Pratt Pavilion court. Fuller's left knee took the brunt of the fall. Fuller was able to walk off the court, albeit gingerly, and looked better walking off afterward.
"I think she escaped anything major, which is the good thing,'' said Jenny Moshak, the Lady Vols associate athletic director for sports medicine. "We'll see how the knee responds over the next 24 hours.
"There was a traumatic experience but the (knee) structures survived."
Moshak said that Fuller, UT's lone senior, did not feel a pop and that her knee passed all the clinical tests. Still, it's the same knee that has undergone multiple surgical procedures. She sat out her first season at Tennessee after undergoing two surgeries in the fall of 2004.
In other medical news, Moshak said sophomore forward Vicki Baugh, who sat out the first two practices, might be able to participate on a limited basis today. The swelling in her surgically repaired left knee is almost gone, and Baugh got in a good weight workout on Saturday.
Redshirt sophomore guard Cait McMahan, meanwhile, pulled herself after two hours of practice to tend to her right knee. She was implementing the strategy laid out after she underwent an arthroscopic procedure in September.
"That's what we have to have in order for her to make it through the next three years,'' Moshak said.
Before she departed, McMahan and freshman teammate Glory Johnson had a head-to-head collision. Johnson needed some Tylenol for a headache but finished practice.
Where's The Guys?: There was a scarcity of male practice players Saturday with only one showing up. UT coach Pat Summitt said that she was planning to talk with the group.
"That's been such an important part of our practice and game preparation,'' she said. "I was disappointed."
Visiting Coaches: Coaches from Chinese Taipei are here until Nov. 8 observing UT practices.
One of the coaches played against Lady Vols associate head coach Holly Warlick during the 1979 Jones Cup competition.
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Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 5
ncvol writes:
My goodness ladies. We have got to get on the mend. Sorry everyone is having injuries. Won't be long till season opening for UT Lady Vols. Hope everyone heals quickly. Go Vols !
yeavols#228407 writes:
Did you mean Fuller or Fulmer? I thought it might been a typo.
ladivolfan writes:
Only 18 days left.
volchiq writes:
Okay boys, step up! We need you guys to prepare our young team for some of the speed they will face.
Can't wait for the season! I hope everything is okay Alex!
BigOrangeVol writes:
In other news...
Anal-enema and the Cons are at it again.
Guard Samarie Walker of Chaminade-Julienne High in Dayton, Ohio, considered the top high school girls basketball player in the junior class, has offered her verbal commitment to UConn.
FYI, Former players are not allowed to recruit prospective student-athletes by NCAA rules and UConn's own website is quite clear about it.
"YOU MAY NOT make any contact, including telephone calls and letters, to a prospect or the prospect's family, on or off campus. If a coach has a recruit at an athletic event, you should not approach the coach until the prospect and family have left. If a prospect approaches you off campus regarding the athletic program, explain that NCAA rules do not permit you to discuss the program. Suggest that the prospect contact the head coach of the sport for information."
But yet...
"Walker said she had many conversations about UConn with Connecticut Sun forward Tamika Williams-Raymond, a Chaminade grad, who was a member of the Huskies Fab Five recruiting class in 1998 with Sue Bird, Swin Cash and Asjha Jones.
"Tamika thought UConn would be a great fit for me," Walker said. "She told me didn't have any problems during her time there." The two spoke last week with Raymond raving about her time at Storrs. ``I talked to her several weeks ago,'' Walker said. ``She told me everything that she went through from high school to college, and how our high school prepared her academically and athletically and that I'll fit in great (at UConn) and how the coaches were and everyone else that's there. She told me do what I feel and if it feels nice then go ahead and commit.''
Seems like the NCAA rules are in effect and apply to everyone except Narcissistic Smurf.
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