Torn anterior cruciate ligament. The phrase is among the most devastating four words an athlete can hear.
A torn ACL can end an athlete's career and cause permanent disability to the knee.
On the ASU women's basketball team's second day of practice prior to the 2002-2003 season, junior forward Betsy Boardman went up for a lay-up and bumped knees with a teammate.
"I knew immediately something was wrong with my knee - I just didn't know what," Boardman said.
The incidental bump caused Boardman to tear not only her ACL, but also both the lateral and medial meniscus. Boardman, who was going to be one of the leaders for the Sun Devils last season, was forced to spend the year rehabbing her knee and watching her teammates from the sidelines.
"Rehab was a true test of my character," Boardman said. "(The injuries) required at least six months of rehab."
Rehabilitation on a torn ACL is a lot like learning to walk again. The injury causes swelling and an extreme amount of blood to accumulate in the knee. After the swelling goes down, learning to extend the knee and walk takes a great amount of time and patience.
"The rehab at ASU is incredible," Boardman said. "At times, I spent three hours a day with doctors and physical therapists to get back on the court."
Exerting herself everyday in rehab was only one of the hardships Boardman had to deal with while coming back from her torn ACL.
Boardman - who was going to be a physical and emotional leader to a young ASU women's basketball team, which featured five freshman - was forced to take on the role of coaching on the sideline, rather than leading on the court.
"Not being out on the court with my teammates killed me," Boardman said. "But, in order to come back fully recovered, I took my doctors' advice and stayed away from physical activity for seven months."
At first, Boardman - who had never had a serious injury before - found it difficult to only be able to help her team from the sidelines and not on the floor. However, she did what she could to guide the young Sun Devils.
"The entire season was taken away from me," Boardman said. "However, being that our team had five freshman last year, I was able to contribute to the team by offering a player's perspective to different game situations."
A big return
When Boardman returned to practice this year, she was determined to play at an even higher level than she had before suffering the knee injury.
So far, she has done just that, as she currently leads the Sun Devils in scoring (12 points per game), and has ASU in position to make a run for a Pac-10 championship. At the halfway point in the Pac-10 season, the University is only two games out of first-place in the conference.
Sophomore forward Kristen Kovesdy - who is second on the team in scoring, averaging 10.4 points per game - credits Boardman for the team's success this season.
"Betsy is an incredible leader on the court," Kovesdy said. "She gives us energy everyday. When she is on the floor, I know that we are going to succeed."
The confidence that Boardman - who has already won two Pac-10 championships during her freshman and sophomore seasons - displays on the court has spilled over to the rest of the team.
Boardman's influence has been most noticeable during Pac-10 road games. ASU only recorded one conference win in nine attempts on the road last year, but has turned it around this season by winning three of their initial five Pac-10 contests away from Wells Fargo Arena.
"Besides being a great basketball player, great scorer and a hard, savvy defensive player, she's a great leader," said ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne.
"Betsy expects to win every game and knows how to win on the road," Turner Thorne added. "Her poise and vocal leadership add strength to the team."
A strong influence
Coming back from an ACL tear takes a great deal of perseverance, and Boardman credits her older brother, Scott, for giving her the strength and motivation to be the basketball player she is today. Boardman said Scott, who played collegiate basketball at the University of San Diego, pushed her to be the best.
"We would play basketball together everyday and he would always give me advice on how to take my game to a higher level," she said.
The advice appears to have paid off, as Boardman continues to make the four devastating words "Torn anterior cruciate ligament," a thing of the past.
Reach the reporter at matt.reinick@asu.edu.
