Aug. 26, 2005

The Nova Notebook, by Villanova director of media relations Mike Sheridan, appears each week beginning in the fall and continues through the basketball regular season. In April through August, there are monthly entries. This August we check in on the recovery of senior forward Curtis Sumpter from surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee.

So often the words used to describe rehabilitation sound nearly as painful as the injury that set the process in motion. And while Villanova's Curtis Sumpter acknowledges that recovery from major surgery is frequently arduous, he chooses to view the summer of rehabilitation in a different light.

"The rehab is tough but I wouldn't call this my toughest summer," says Sumpter, a second team All-Big East choice in 2004-05 despite being hobbled for most of the season's last two months by a sprained right knee. "Even though I wasn't able to play, I kind of looked at it as a little vacation from basketball so I can be strong for the season coming up. It wasn't that bad."

Since undergoing surgery on April 15 on his left knee, Sumpter has endured all of the drudgery of rehabilitative work with head athletic trainer Jeff Pierce. (The Philadelphia Daily News recently spent a morning of rehabilitation with Sumpter and teammate Jason Fraser and a story on the process is slated to appear in the coming weeks.) Sumpter says team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Rob Good has been pleased with his progress thus far.

Yet Sumpter isn't taking anything for granted. If nothing else, his recent basketball past has taught him that there are no guarantees. He continues to stay focused on the short term so that when the 2005-06 Wildcats take the court for the start of practice in the middle of October, he is on the court with them.

"I'm just eager to get out there in practice and get knocked to the floor a few times," he says. "I want to take some knocks, pick myself up and keep playing."

By and large, that is what Sumpter did as a junior in 2004-05. He ended the season as the Wildcats' third leading scorer (15.3 ppg) and top rebounder (7.2 rpg). But those solid numbers take on added meaning when the obstacles Sumpter faced are factored into the equation.

After a strong start to the campaign, Sumpter appeared on the cusp of establishing himself as one of the nation's most lethal combination forwards. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native and his teammates were 8-2 overall and 1-0 in the Big East following a convincing 84-46 win over eventual Elite Eight participant West Virginia on Jan. 5 at the Pavilion. Two days later, near the end of a practice session at Notre Dame, Sumpter fell to ground in a heap, clutching his right knee. Later that afternoon, a Notre Dame physician told Sumpter that he might be sidelined until the Big East Tournament, eight weeks later.

Instead, Sumpter was back in the lineup eight days later, sporting a cumbersome brace against Georgetown. However, he still contributed 14 points and seven rebounds in a 66-64 loss to the Hoyas at the Pavilion on Jan. 15.

From that point forward, Sumpter concedes he was never whole for the balance of the campaign. The brace provided stability for the knee but hindered his leaping ability and lateral quickness.

"It held me back a whole lot," says Sumpter. "I wasn't as explosive in my leaping ability or in my quickness. My lateral movement wasn't the same either. I just tried as best I could."

The good news was that the brace helped insure that Sumpter would do no further damage to the knee. As long as he could deal with his new limitations, he was free to continue in his quest to bring the Wildcats their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1999.

"Even though we didn't talk about it much," says Sumpter, "we all knew that it was important to go to the (NCAA) Tournament. Allan, Jason, Randy and I had never experienced that and we were already in our junior year. I just wanted to do whatever it took to get there."

So Sumpter persevered. Rather than mulling his limitations, he approached the setback analytically.

"I tried to change it up," says the product of Bishop Loughlin (N.Y.) High School. "I thought a lot more about what I was going to do rather than just reacting."

Sumpter remained a force the rest of the way. On Jan. 22, he scored 25 points in a victory over No. 2 Kansas. Three weeks later, he delivered 24 points and 13 rebounds in a Pavilion victory over Providence. On Feb. 17, his 25 points and seven rebounds played an enormous role in helping the Wildcats post their first win at Seton Hall in nine years.

Thanks in no small part to Sumpter's effort, Villanova concluded its regular season with a 21-6 mark. It was awarded an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and defeated New Mexico 55-47 in the first round. Sumpter struggled with his shot on that afternoon in Nashville but did grab 12 rebounds and provide important defense on Danny Granger.

Two days later, Sumpter appeared to be in an early offensive groove against Florida. He scored eight points in the game's first ten minutes before falling to the floor underneath a basket, this time holding his left knee. After being helped to the sidelines, Sumpter felt well enough to return to action. But it wasn't long before he had collapsed again under the basket. Instinctively, he knew this time was different.

"I knew I had never felt anything like that before," he says now.

Sumpter was examined by a physician at halftime and received the bad news that he had likely torn the ligament in his left knee. Before the Nashville based physician could begin to discuss the possible ramifications, Sumpter excused himself and hurried back to the court. His season was over but Sumpter wanted to be with his teammates.

"The only person I told was Jason (Fraser)," says Sumpter now. "I wasn't planning on telling anyone until after the game but Jason looked at me before the start of the second half and said, `I know something's wrong. What is it?' I wasn't going to lie to him. I think that helped him have the great game he did because he told me that the guys were going to win this one for me."

Fraser went on to complete an awesome afternoon, finishing with 21 points and 15 rebounds to help seal a 76-67 victory over the SEC Tournament champions and give the Wildcats their first Sweet 16 appearance since 1988.

The next five days would be difficult ones for Sumpter. On Monday, the preliminary diagnosis on the left knee was confirmed. That afternoon, he attended a press conference with Villanova head coach Jay Wright. Then he began the pre-hab, which helps build muscles around the knee in advance of the surgery.

That Friday night, Sumpter was neatly attired in a shirt, tie and dark framed glasses on the bench. But his heart ached to be on the Carrier Dome court with his friends against top seed North Carolina.

"I've never cried over basketball in my life but I felt like crying that week," he says now. "I have been fortunate, knock on wood, not to have experienced any really painful things in my life. But that was the worst feeling I have ever felt. This was something that I had always dreamed about - beating North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament.

"My teammates did a real good job. They held their own. But without me guys were forced to play in different spots than they would normally. We were just missing something and to know that I could have provided it if I was healthy made it hard to cope with."

A 67-66 loss ended the Wildcats' season that night. Once it concluded, Sumpter faced surgery. It was completed a few weeks later and, in Good's estimation, went according to plan.

"I wanted to hurry up and have the surgery," Sumpter says. "I wanted to hurry up and get back in the weight room and begin the rehab. This is an important year for us and I just want to be a part of it. I don't want to miss out on any activities because what you do in the summer helps you in the season.

"The doctors are really pleased with the recovery. I have a lot of strength in the knee and it seems to be doing well."

The start of practice is six weeks away and Sumpter expects to have the all-clear sign by that juncture barring any setbacks. Then he and his teammates will begin preparations for a season rife with promise.

"The foundation for me is just being healthy," he says. "That's first and foremost. But we also want to continue play together. We've done that the last three years and last year we were fortunate that things fell into place for us. It just took time to get to that point. We just want to stay with that same mindset, allow Coach Wright to coach us, and play hard."

Of course, there are much loftier expectations in the wake of 2004-05. Villanova has been ranked as high as No. 3 in the country in several preseason polls.

"I think I can speak for Al, Randy, and Jason on this," states Sumpter. "There is no way we are going to let this team think that it is bigger and better than everyone else. We are going to continue to work hard and stay humble. There's no need to get cocky now. If anyone gets out of line, I'm pretty sure I'll check them or Randy or Al or Jay will. There is no room for that on this team right now."

The fall semester has resumed and for Villanova students the summer vacation is over. Unlike some of his peers, Curtis Sumpter doesn't have any wonderful stories or amazing photos to show off. It is his hope that the fruits of his summer labor will be on display all winter long.