After completing six months of rehabilitation on his left knee and playing in only two games this season, junior Peyton Stovall will have go through the long, arduous process of recovering again.
The Ball State University men's basketball team was told Wednesday from doctors that Stovall tore the ACL in his left knee for the second time in his career. The injury will end Stovall's season, and he will have surgery to repair the ligament by the end of the month.
Doctors originally diagnosed Stovall's injury on Monday as a knee sprain - an injury that Stovall was expected to recover from quickly. Doctors, however, examined the MRI again on Wednesday and determined that Stovall had in fact torn his ACL for a second time.
"They went through it to evaluate it just to be certain, and that's when [doctors] were able to determine the tear," coach Tim Buckley said. "I'm very thankful we didn't find out later down the road."
The injury occurred in Saturday's game against Wright State with less than two minutes remaining in the contest. Stovall held his left knee after he fell on the floor but was able to walk off the court on his own.
Buckley said Stovall will seek a medical redshirt at the end of the season so he can return next year with two years left of eligibility. Stovall qualifies for a medical redshirt because he hasn't played in 20 percent of the team's games, and the injury occurred in the first half of the season.
The team practiced yesterday with Stovall in attendance, watching and coaching from the sidelines. Buckley said everyone with the team is impressed with how Stovall's handled himself after finding out the seriousness of the injury.
"I was impressed with the fact that Peyton was here at practice today coaching and being involved," Buckley said. "I think that says a lot about him and what this basketball team means to him."
Recovering fully from an ACL tear usually takes six to eight months. Stovall suffered the first tear in last season's Mid-American Conference tournament game on March 7 and had successful surgery on March 30.
The loss of Stovall for an entire season will force the team to make up for the loss of his leadership on the court. Buckley said he felt the team will have to grow closer together in order to replace Stovall.
"I think [the players] will become closer," Buckley said. "They will do a better job of playing together because you can't make up for Peyton Stovall with one player. The ball is going to have to be shared more, and we're going to have to rely on more people."
True freshman Maurice Acker will be in the starting point guard position against Butler on Saturday. Acker averaged 18 minutes per game in Ball State's first two games this season - the most of any reserve player on the team. The 5-foot-8 guard will step into the lineup and try to run the team like Stovall did.
"My expectations of Maurice is that he can run the basketball team like Peyton did," Buckley said. "I think he's more than capable of taking on that role, and obviously that's going to be an added responsibility for him. I'm very confident in the fact that Peyton is going to put his mind into Maurice's body."
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