Friday, March 10, 2000

UC title hopes fall with Martin

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Broken leg sidelines star on verge of tournament

BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Kenyon Martin grimaces as he's treated on the court. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

Martin (4) gets tangled up with Saint Louis' Justin Love. (TV image from WXIX) | ZOOM |

Martin's right leg buckles as he falls. (TV image from WXIX) | ZOOM |

A gloomy Martin, with leg in cast, sits on the bench after treatment. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

| ZOOM |

        MEMPHIS, Tenn. — His Cincinnati Bearcats teammates had seen Kenyon Martin on the floor before. A basketball player does not fly as high as he does without crash-landing once in a while. This time, though, he did not immediately jump to his feet.

        Martin made an effort to stand, then rolled to his side — in pain, for certain, but more so in agony. He knew. The 1999-2000 season — the season he ruled with his scoring, rebounding, shot-blocking and leadership — was over for him.

        As the result of the fall in UC's Conference USA tournament men's quarterfinal game against St. Louis, Martin has a broken right fibula and some ligament damage. The injury will require surgery, which could be performed as early as today by UC team orthopedist Angelo Colosimo.

        The loss of UC's star center was a devastating blow to the No. 1-ranked Bearcats, who were expected to receive a No1 seeding in the NCAA Tournament, which begins Thursday.

        In coach Bob Huggins' previous 10 seasons, he has never had a No.1 seed.

        While the injury has hurt the team's prospects, it should not have a long-term effect on Martin's career.Ù

        “For a kid at the level he is and what he's been through, this is a severe injury,” Dr. Colosimo said. “Will he recover fully? Expect a 100 percent recov ery.”

        Dr. Colosimo said there were no bone fragments that will complicate the surgery. Martin will have absorbable screws inserted into the bone to aid the healing process.

        Martin will begin rehabilitation in two or three weeks and could be ready to resume running in six weeks. The injury should not have a dramatic impact on his status for the NBA draft; Dr. Colosimo saidMartin will be completely healthy for the start of next season.

        “It hurt, but my feelings are hurt more than anything,” Martin said. “I was looking forward to helping my team, and I couldn't do that. That hurts, when you can't help your team. That's why I've been here for four years.”

        Coach Bob Huggins was uncommonly emotional about the injury. He consistently has called Martin one of the most coachable athletes to play for him at UC, and he also was the foundation of the best team in Huggins' 11 seasons with the Bearcats.

        A 6-foot-9 center from Dallas, Martin averaged 19.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.5 blocks for the Bearcats, who entered the game ranked No. 1 in the nation and left with a 28-3 record. The Bearcats finished the game with a 68-58 loss and are uncertain how that game and Martin's injury will affect their seeding and placement in the NCAA Tournament, which begins March 16.

Martin rests his leg while talking with reporters. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        Martin was unanimously named Conference USA player of the year and is the favorite for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, Naismith Trophy and John R. Wooden Award, each of which is presented to the nation's top college player.

        “It's a traumatic thing to go through,” Huggins said. “He means so much in so many ways that people are never going to realize. He's got a better understanding of what's supposed to happen than anybody I've ever had.”

        The injury to the nation's top player on the eve of the NCAA Tournament is virtually without precedent in college basketball. Each of the 23 previous winners of the Wooden Award played in the tournament, with 10 competing in the Final Four.

        Martin will not get that opportunity. He will get no closer to the floor of the RCA Dome than a seat on the bench, and that is problematic at this point, with the Bearcats missing the player who provided so much of their offense and defense.

        “He just created so many things for everybody else that he made their job a lot easier,” Huggins said. “We're going to give it a go. We're going to have to have some guys respond and do some things.”

        Martin had missed his first two shots of the St. Louis game when he stood at the foul line with the Bearcats down a basket and in possession of the ball.

        He headed to the baseline to set a screen, but began to fall after St. Louis guard Justin Love banged into his left knee. That caused Martin's left leg to shoot from beneath him. He tried to catch himself before falling to the floor, but it was too late, and all his weight fell on top of his right leg, which was trapped beneath him.

        That's when the fracture occurred.

        “It all happened to fast,” Martin said.

        He tried to bring himself to his feet, but he knew instantly there was something seriously wrong. He waved toward the bench, and trainer Jayd Grossman hustled to the court. A moment later, he was surrounded by Dr. Colosimo, team physician Ken Stephens and David Sisk, team orthopedist for the University of Memphis.

        “I didn't have any control over it when I tried to get up,” Martin said. “I knew it was broken. I felt it twist, and I knew. When Jayd came out there, I told him it was broken. It was just one of those freak things. It just happened.”

        An inflatable cast was placed around Martin's leg, and he let out a scream of frustration. As he limped toward the exit, he called for his sister, Tamara Ridley, who was seated in the adjacent end zone. She rode in the ambulance with him to the Campbell Clinic, Dr. Sisk's base of operations, where the leg was X-rayed and placed in a cast.

        Huggins could not recall Martin's missing a practice in four years because of injury or illness. Asked whether this was the first serious injury of his basketball career, Martin mentioned a hip problem that occurred during his junior year in high school.

        “How serious? Oh, I didn't miss a game.”

        When Martin chose to remain in school and play his way toward the top of the draft rather than leave early and end up as a mid-first-round pick, he became a symbol of the value of college basketball in developing a player's pro potential.

        “I'm not disappointed with anything I did,” Mr. Martin said. “I was satisfied with the way I played to this point, and I wouldn't take anything back about coming back to school.”

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