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Knight (Re)Building Towards Brighter Future
April 01, 2019 | Women's Basketball
The CU sophomore is working towards 2019-20
BOULDER – After a solid freshman season, Colorado's Aubrey Knight was ready to take the next step forward for the CU women's basketball team in the 2018-19 season.
But a shoulder injury suffered in her third game of the year resulted in season-ending surgery for the 6-foot-1 guard. Now she is determined to come back bigger, better, and stronger than ever for the 2019-20 season.
"A lot of times coming back from these types of injuries is really mental," Knight said in a recent interview. "That wasn't a problem for me because I had a lot of people that want to see me succeed, and I want to succeed. On top of that, people around you offering support makes you even more confident."
Knight's surgery should correct a problem that has hampered her development with the Buffs. She first injured her shoulder as a freshman, and then again twice this past season. Knight played just seven minutes in Colorado's game at Nevada, before her shoulder popped out for the second time in her three games. At that moment her season went by the wayside. The decision was made to have the injury surgically repaired, again, in hopes to be full strength come 2019-20.
It was not an easy decision.
"I was pretty upset about it," she said. "(But) I knew I could still help my teammates and develop different aspects of my game that didn't affect my shoulder. It was hard to wrap my head around it at first. It was a really tough decision to sit out, but the decision had to be made. Obviously, I missed playing a lot and it was obviously really tough for me."
As a freshman, Knight started 13 games and played in 28 total for the Buffs. She was third on the team in rebounding (4.4 per game) while also averaging 3.6 points to go with 25 steals (also third-best on the team).
Her plan was to improve those numbers, but after her injury and surgery, she turned her attention to helping her team in other ways, while also having time to reflect on how important basketball was to her.
"I didn't realize how much I really loved the game until I wasn't able to play it," she said. "I think getting injured made me take it for granted a little bit and made me realize that every game could potentially be your last and to always give it everything you have."
Not being able to help her team on the court was understandably a tough roadblock to push past.
"It was really frustrating," Knight recalled. "There were countless times I wanted to go out there and help the team. It's always easy to say that when you are looking on from the bench. When you're healthy you can go out and help your team but it's so different when you're not in there. When it came to game day, I had to adjust to different responsibilities. I did my best to help my team while not being able to play."
Knight's absence undoubtedly affected the Buffs this season, as they battled through an up-and-down 12-18 campaign. But with a young roster that gained plenty of valuable experience this year, Knight believes Colorado is a program ready to turn the corner.
"Most of our players have at least a year of experience already," she said. "Every freshman has a year under their belt now, all sophomores and juniors have at least a year under their belt now as well. I think we have really high expectations for ourselves. Getting stronger and putting in the work in the offseason will determine how we play right off the bat next year."
But a shoulder injury suffered in her third game of the year resulted in season-ending surgery for the 6-foot-1 guard. Now she is determined to come back bigger, better, and stronger than ever for the 2019-20 season.
"A lot of times coming back from these types of injuries is really mental," Knight said in a recent interview. "That wasn't a problem for me because I had a lot of people that want to see me succeed, and I want to succeed. On top of that, people around you offering support makes you even more confident."
Knight's surgery should correct a problem that has hampered her development with the Buffs. She first injured her shoulder as a freshman, and then again twice this past season. Knight played just seven minutes in Colorado's game at Nevada, before her shoulder popped out for the second time in her three games. At that moment her season went by the wayside. The decision was made to have the injury surgically repaired, again, in hopes to be full strength come 2019-20.
It was not an easy decision.
"I was pretty upset about it," she said. "(But) I knew I could still help my teammates and develop different aspects of my game that didn't affect my shoulder. It was hard to wrap my head around it at first. It was a really tough decision to sit out, but the decision had to be made. Obviously, I missed playing a lot and it was obviously really tough for me."
As a freshman, Knight started 13 games and played in 28 total for the Buffs. She was third on the team in rebounding (4.4 per game) while also averaging 3.6 points to go with 25 steals (also third-best on the team).
Her plan was to improve those numbers, but after her injury and surgery, she turned her attention to helping her team in other ways, while also having time to reflect on how important basketball was to her.
"I didn't realize how much I really loved the game until I wasn't able to play it," she said. "I think getting injured made me take it for granted a little bit and made me realize that every game could potentially be your last and to always give it everything you have."
Not being able to help her team on the court was understandably a tough roadblock to push past.
"It was really frustrating," Knight recalled. "There were countless times I wanted to go out there and help the team. It's always easy to say that when you are looking on from the bench. When you're healthy you can go out and help your team but it's so different when you're not in there. When it came to game day, I had to adjust to different responsibilities. I did my best to help my team while not being able to play."
Knight's absence undoubtedly affected the Buffs this season, as they battled through an up-and-down 12-18 campaign. But with a young roster that gained plenty of valuable experience this year, Knight believes Colorado is a program ready to turn the corner.
"Most of our players have at least a year of experience already," she said. "Every freshman has a year under their belt now, all sophomores and juniors have at least a year under their belt now as well. I think we have really high expectations for ourselves. Getting stronger and putting in the work in the offseason will determine how we play right off the bat next year."