After Bree Horrocks could muster only 12 minutes in Purdue’s season opener and followed that a day later by getting on the court for only 62 seconds, she knew what had to happened.
The junior shut down, deciding to redshirt this season rather than try to play through a severe knee injury that might only have gotten worse. Horrocks will have surgery Monday to fix a completely torn medial patellar ligament in her right knee.
“I’m needed, but how good am I if I can only play 60 percent of what I can one day, sometimes 20 percent, sometimes 80?” Horrocks said Monday afternoon. “They need someone reliable and consistent and I can’t provide that in this condition.”
Few could.
Horrocks was attempting to play with a knee cap that wasn’t secure and that was causing her so much swelling it was becoming unmanageable. It was injured a month ago during an individual workout.
“It was basically a freak accident,” she said. “I just stepped on someone’s foot and my knee went one way and my kneecap went the other way and it popped out of place, but it popped right back, so we were like, ‘That’s a good sign. It popped right back.’ It went over and came back, so we assumed that everything was OK, but I also have a high threshold for pain and I tend to be a quick healer, so once some time had passed and I was still swelling we were like, ‘OK, we need to check some things out.’
“So that’s what happened. It was basically injury, then a month, then MRI, then knowing that surgery is a requirement to fix it and every time I step on the court with it in the condition that it is, I was risking irreparable damage to my patella.”
Yet, Horrocks still tried, at least for a weekend in Maine. But she wasn’t as effective as what she thought she could be healthy, and after the mounting issues with swelling, in practice or in games, it was too much.
“It was just me coming to the decision that I can’t play 32-plus games in this condition,” the 6-foot-5 center said. “So after Maine was when the decision was made, but I can’t say (the possibility) hasn’t been in my head for over a month now.”
Horrocks estimates her recovery at about three months, meaning she could get back in mid-February, toward the end of the season. If so, she’d like to be able to help in practices, but until then, she’ll try to continue being a vocal leader from the sideline.
“Obviously, I was really vocal before and I kind of struggled with, ‘Do I still have a voice even though I’m out?’ I wondered if people would see me as not credible because I’m not out on the court with them,” she said. “I picked up my talking these last few days in practice and I don’t see a discrepancy. They still listen to me, obviously I’m the veteran post player, I have the most to offer as far as experience and knowledge, so I just have to keep talking to everyone.
“I love the amount of respect they have for me and that they look up to me, so I want to help them in any way I can and that’s cheering and being loud and obnoxious on the bench and still cheering and being loud and obnoxious in practice when I’m just siting there. I just keep it fun and light, bring energy, help them out when I can.”
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