South’s Gaddy waiting

KANNAPOLIS — South Rowan High athlete Brittney Gaddy has always pushed herself.

But last June 16, a push from behind in a summer camp basketball game changed her life.

Gaddy’s mom, Sharon, wasn’t there, but has heard the story from her daughter’s teammates.

Brittney, a 6-foot-1 rising senior, had stolen the ball at the 3-point line at High Point Central’s summer camp and headed to the basket for a layup. Someone yelled, “Get her!” Then came the shove that sent Gaddy flying into the bleachers behind the goal.

Gaddy crashed, hitting her back and head hard, so no one was surprised that she was screaming by the time help arrived.

But she wasn’t yelling about her head or back. Over and over again, she was saying, “My knee! My knee!”

The pain in that right knee eventually went away and the swelling subsided over the next few weeks, but Gaddy’s mother, a physical therapist, sensed that Brittney wasn’t healing.

She went in for an MRI last Monday. It confirmed that Gaddy had torn her ACL.

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Brittney was headed for a sure college hoops career, maybe Division I, because she combines exceptional size, strength and tenacity with a soft shooting touch. She is far and away the county’s top returning female hoops star, having already scored 886 points, eighth on South’s career list.

Gaddy averaged 15.2 ppg as a sophomore and 17.2 ppg as a junior when she was runner-up for the county’s player of the year award. And Gaddy’s more than just a basketball player. An excellent student, she’s also an all-conference performer in volleyball and track and was South’s 2000-01 nominee for female athlete of the year in the county.

Doctors explained the options with the Gaddys. Basically, there were two: undergo surgery or try to rehab the knee without surgery. The Gaddys opted for surgery. They’ve set July 24 as the date.

“We talked over all the what-ifs,” said Sharon. “Brittney could try to rehab it and play, but then if it goes out again, then that’s it for the year. On the other hand, if she has the surgery, it’ll be fixed and she can play part of her basketball season and hopefully get ready for college ball.”

Doctors estimate it’ll be at least four months before Gaddy will be able to jump again.

“You can’t set a timetable for her to get back until they get in there and see all the damage,” Sharon said. “An MRI doesn’t always show everything. We know volleyball’s gone for this year, but we are hoping for basketball. How much? It’s just too early to say.”

Sharon admits that the timing of the injury is pretty awful. South figured to have its best team since Brittney was a freshman reserve on a 22-5 powerhouse. And Brittney, who’s played ball without serious injury since she was 8 years old, was pumped up to have a huge senior year that would attract college offers.

“The coaches are calling the house this summer and Brittney’s being honest with them,” said Sharon. “She tells them she’s been hurt. I’ve told her honesty might hurt her some now, but it’ll help her in the long run. We’re just hoping there’s a college that will understand the situation and will be forthcoming with her and offer her a scholarship.

“But you know how it is. Sometimes, they hear ‘ACL’ and you don’t hear from them again.”

Gaddy has a lot of things working in her favor for a complete recovery. Her extraordinary leg strength — she leg-presses a school-record 500 pounds — is her biggest asset.

“The doctors say they are going to replace her ACL with a man’s ACL,” said Sharon. “They figure if they put a woman’s in there, she’s gonna just pop it again.”

Gaddy shoots around every day at the Kannapolis YMCA as she awaits July 24. She can do her shooting workout OK, so long as she doesn’t cut or twist. That’s a positive. It keeps her mind off the impending surgery and those long months when she’ll have to sit and watch her teammates try to keep going without her.

“We’re going to get the knee OK and then get Brittney over the head things that go with it, too,” said Sharon. “The girl’s got a fighting spirit, the best doctors and during her rehab, she’s gonna have her mama’s special touch.”

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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com .