The timing couldn’t have been worse.
Leading up to the Ball State football team’s critical game against Northern Illinois last fall, running back Horactio Banks tore his ACL in practice.
Early during the game, just several hours later, corner back Quintin Cooper fell to the ground with a broken leg.
In a single day, both players’ seasons were finished.
“I had a really strong start to the game, three straight tackles,” Cooper said. “Then I got hurt and it was devastating. I tried to stand up and I couldn’t. I knew it was something serious.”
The pair of players has worked over the offseason to recover from their injuries in time for August, when the new season of Ball State football kicks off.
It’s a slow, methodical process that has tested the patience of Cooper and Banks. They can’t compete in many team activities and are limited in what they can do in practice.
Banks looks at his rehab and preparation for the upcoming season as another part of life. He said it has its ups and downs, and he can’t let himself get too unhappy on days when rehab becomes physically painful; he knows what’s waiting once he’s fully healthy.
It doesn’t mean he and Cooper don’t get impatient.
“You’d be a real liar if you said they didn’t have some days they [got] frustrated because they weren’t doing what everyone else was,” said David Feeley, strength and conditioning coach. “They don’t want to be babied; they don’t like taking steps back.”
Banks said he spends a lot of time working with Feeley, who helps in the recovery process for injured athletes.
They want to get back on the field quickly, and part of Feeley’s job is making sure players like Cooper and Banks slow down and are fully recovered before taking the field.
“It’s like a Corvette with one flat tire,” Feeley said. “I’m saying, ‘Hey, hold on there; we have to fix this’ and they want to get out there and run the show.”
While recovering, Cooper spends his time at practice helping coach younger players, but he said the limitations can be trying. The senior is one of few cornerbacks who are upperclassmen. Eight corners are listed on the roster, six of them are eligible as sophomores or freshmen.
His teammates tell him to keep his head up about how much fun the upcoming season will be. He’s tasked with learning how defensive coordinator Kevin Kelly runs the defense, despite not being able to fully contribute.
He has to take advantage of what he sees on the sideline so he knows what to expect once he’s on the field.
“I’m learning off their mistakes so when I get back out in the fall, I’m not messing up,”
- Cooper said.
Despite the severity of the injuries, both players are confident they’ll be ready to don the Cardinal-red jerseys once fall comes.
“It’s going to feel amazing,” Cooper said, as he started to smile and clap his hands. “I’m going to feel pretty blessed to be back out there.”
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