By: Dylan Fearon
The Quinnipiac men’s basketball team has a new staff, new players and even new jerseys.
But now, one of its players has a new injury.
Redshirt freshman Travis Atson has a torn ACL and lateral meniscus in his right knee, and will be out 6-8 months, he tells Q30 Sports.
“It was in practice,” Atson said. “We were playing two on two and I went baseline and my leg just gave out. I tore my ACL and my lateral meniscus, so I’ll get surgery within the next three weeks.”
This is Atson’s first year in Hamden. He transferred to Quinnipiac after one year at Tulsa, where he played in 22 games. Per NCAA transfer rules, Atson was going to have to sit out the season anyway.
“Being a redshirt year, I don’t have to rush back,” Atson said. “I can take my time and make sure I heal perfectly and heal right. I’m not losing a year anyway, so I’ll be able to focus on what I need to focus on and not worry about games right now. Just work on myself.”
An injury like the one he suffered is never positive, but Atson saw the timing as bittersweet.
“That’s what calmed me down the most when I got hurt,” he said. “I was like ‘oh my god I’m not going to play.’ But then I realized it was just going to be practice, so I can just practice next year when I actually do play.”
Even though the injury doesn’t effect Atson’s eligibility, head coach Baker Dunleavy stresses that Atson’s progression may be stymied a little bit.
“You never want to have it happen, but better now than this time next year,” Dunleavy said. “It’ll sacrifice a little bit of development on the court. We really looked forward to having him in practice and doing individual workouts and continuing to expand his game. But, we’ll have to be creative with how we develop him off the court. Obviously rehab but also watching video and just learning everything we do by watching.”
It’s not the first time Atson has been plagued by injury. In fact, he tore his ACL in his left knee back in high school.
“I came back in six months last time, so hopefully just six months again,” Atson said.
A half-year stint on the sidelines would get Atson back on the court in April, plenty of time before next year’s summer sessions start.
“Certainly it’s something over the years that has become more routine, in ACL,” Dunleavy said. “A long time ago it was like a cursed word. Now you can come back even stronger, so that’s been our though process with Travis and his positivity has been incredible.”
