Freshman Heather Buck began dealing with a scratchy throat Nov. 3, just three days before UConn’s exhibition opener against Stonehill. She didn’t think much of it at the time, hoping that it was nothing more than a common cold.
A few days would pass and it became increasingly difficult for her to swallow. So difficult that Buck could not eat for two days. It was at this point that she knew there was a more significant problem with her health.
Buck alerted team officials and tests confirmed that she was stricken by mononucleosis. She missed her fourth straight game Tuesday when top-ranked UConn defeated BYU 96-47 in its first road game of the season.
“I just never thought I’d get mono,’’ Buck said. “Ever. But when I wasn’t eating because I couldn’t swallow I knew that it was a problem. Anybody who knows me knows that I’ll pretty much each through anything.’’
Buck, who has only had to miss a couple of classes during this stretch, said she is feeling between 80 and 85 percent health. She will be reevaluated Friday, when she could be cleared by team doctor Tom Trojian to begin light activity, which she hopes will include jogging.
At this point, Buck has been permitted to shoot standing in place and nothing more. Her return to active duty still remains unclear. She hopes to be back in two weeks. However, a definitive date continues to be in the hands of team medical personnel.
“I’m actually feeling a lot better,’’ Buck said. “I’ve been feeling much more myself in the last couple of days. Right now I don’t even think I’m even really supposed to be up and around too much. But really I haven’t been knocked out and in bed.’’
The key for Buck Friday will be the condition of her spleen. Mononucleosis causes it to enlarge, which forces athletes to shut it down until the illness has subsided. Missing games has hurt. But missing practice is what has caused Buck much anxiety.
She was making progress during the preseason, and at a long 6-foot-3 she was tabbed as a player who could come off the bench to provide the Huskies with some minutes in the post.
“That was the thing that made me most nervous,’’ Buck said. “Not my spleen. Not being sick. Missing practice. On the side, I’m trying to make sure that I’m still mentally involved and paying attention and picking up all of the things so that when I come back I’ll be ahead mentally and know where I’m supposed to be going. But, still, watching and running it still isn’t the same. So that’s going to be difficult, and I’m missing all of the conditioning too now.’’
UConn coach Geno Auriemma isn’t concerned with the mental aspect of Buck’s game. He said that she has picked things up quickly when she’s been on the court. But he, too, is concerned with how long it will take Buck to rebound physically in lieu of her illness.
Junior Kaili McLaren, who had a season-high 10 points in 13 minutes against BYU, is the only reserve post player in UConn’s primary rotation right now. She is averaging 5.0 points, 1.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 14.0 minutes. So the opportunity is there for Buck to solidify a role once she regains her health and is again able to actively participate in practice.
“I think so much of it has to do with the comfort level that they have on the court and how quickly they can fit in,’’ Auriemma said. “You can tell a lot about a freshman. They come in as a freshman and they can play and they can compete and they can function at real high pace right away. And that a lot of times if you get hurt it doesn’t matter because you already have it and you can just step back in and not worry about it. But I think in Heather’s case because of what we were hoping to get from her was an awful lot of repetitions in practice and get bigger and get stronger. And for a big kid it just takes longer anyway, and especially for someone who’s not used to playing at that level of competition on a regular basis.
“I think the physicalness of the game is obviously something that’s going to be difficult for her And you just have to get in there and do. That’s all there is to it. But I don’t worry about her not being involved or grasping the concepts that we’re talking about. Those will be OK for her. It’s just how far back is she going to be physically because she hasn’t had a chance to get out here and be a part of it. It’s still November and you don’t play your for first Big East game until January. So there’s a lot of time to impact the season. But I just want to see what she looks like physically when she’s cleared and see what happens.’’
Happy Thanksgiving to everybody.
Rich
