Dave Betancourt | Sports Section Manager

In sports, no matter if the level is high school, college, or professional, there's one injury that tests not only the physical, but mental abilities of an athlete. A broken bone can be cast and mended, sprained ankles can be drowned in ice and levitated, but when injuries occur to the knee, namely an ACL or MCL tear, or even both, an athlete faces a long path towards rehabilitation and fears that they might not be able to do the same movements that garnered them their status in their athletic field. The ACL or anterior cruciate ligament is a ligament that connects the tibia to the femur. It prevents the leg from moving forward improperly. When the ligament is torn it is no longer able to do it's job.

ACL tears aren't like most injuries that happen in sports because they can occur without any contact. This was the case with RU Junior Jesse Seamon. Seamon was in the running for the starting small forward position left vacant by the graduating Jason Williams when his bright career came to a standstill after tearing his ACL in Russia.

On a routine drive to the basket during a summer exhibition game in Russia, Seamon fell awkwardly and came down hard on his landing. He immediately grabbed his knee in pain. He was diagnosed with a torn ACL and MCL and would require immediate surgery that ended a season that had started out so promising for him.

Seamon describes a typical day of physical therapy as intense. "I begin with 15 minutes of stretching. They put a lot of emphasis on learning how to walk right again and working on balance. After that, I go on a stair master and then hit the swimming pool. That itself takes an hour and a half. After the pool it's the power phase of therapy which consist of squats, leg raises and lunges. Then after that, I stretch and ice my leg for 30 minutes. I do this 5 days a week," said Seamon.

"I was going to play a lot this season. You always have to be on guard so that you don't get discouraged. It's hard watching practice. You wish you could be out there with them. When you're hurt you feel like you're not a part of the team. After not playing much my first two years, I was really looking forward to playing this year, so it's very tough at times," Seamon said.

Despite going through these things his first year as a starter, Seamon remains positive. He has applied for a medical redshirt which would give him back the year that he lost. Seamon says that his teammates and coaches have been his biggest supporters in his time of transition.

"My teammates and coaches have been more supportive than I ever could have imagined. They've made dealing with this a lot easier."