During the Regional Finals of this year’s NCAA tournament, the nation was saddened to watch a devastating injury to Louisville’s Kevin Ware. The player, upon jumping to block a shot, ended up breaking his leg and having the entire bone go through his skin.
While Louisville went on to defeat the Duke Blue Devils by 22-points, the injury weighed heavy on the minds of both fans and players alike.
The 6 foot 2 sophomore guard was lying in the Methodist Hospital nearby as his teammates celebrated a big win. The players were crying upon seeing the injury, and even coach Rick Pitino was hit hard by what he saw.
“We’re all choked up. We wanted to win this for him. We wanted to get back to Atlanta (site of the Final Four). Every timeout, all we kept saying in the huddle was, ‘Bring Kevin Home.’
Chane Behanan, one of Ware’s best friends, said that when he spoke to him, he was upbeat and telling the team to go out there and win it for him.
“He said, ‘Don’t worry about me, I’m good, I’ll have my surgery tonight,’” Behanan said. “‘Go win it for me.’”
The injury was not played on the big screen to keep the audience from being shocked. But many thought that it was a reminder of the terrible break suffered by former NFL star Joe Theisman in 1985. He never played again.
Theismann tweeted while watching the game: “Watching Duke/ Louisville my heart goes out to Kevin Ware.”
Some of the players on the Louisville team literally threw up in the garbage after seeing the injury to their teammate. Some fell to their knees and cried. Even coach Rick Pitino cried upon seeing his player’s injury.
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