University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: McDonald Begins Long Road Back
August 29, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Aug. 29, 2011
By Adam Lucas
Just as he expected throughout the spring and summer, Leslie McDonald's fall semester schedule finds him going from class to the Smith Center, where his Carolina teammates have regularly scheduled pickup games after strength and conditioning workouts.
There's one very serious hitch in McDonald's plan, however: during those games, he's sitting on the sideline, limited to only an observer's role after undergoing knee surgery on August 3 to repair a torn meniscus and reconstruct his right ACL.
"I try to knock out my rehab right after class so I can watch the guys play pickup," McDonald says. "It's fun watching your teammates play and seeing how everyone has improved since last year. At the same time, it's hard because you want to be out there, and some of the things you were doing before, you're not able to do now."
McDonald's rehab has been productive. Just three weeks and five days after surgery--yes, he's counting--he's already walking without a brace. He measures progress in the assignments being given to him by trainer Chris Hirth and strength and conditioning coach Jonas Sahratian, and considers it a victory that he's already being allowed to do some limited upper body and leg work in addition to riding the stationary bike.
Still, he's many months away from transitioning from simply getting healthy to playing competitive Atlantic Coast Conference college basketball.
"The original timeframe for ACL repair is six months," McDonald says. "I had ACL and meniscus repair, which will take a little bit longer, like seven to eight months...The doctors say I'm doing well, but they want to take precautions because you can reinjure these things easily."
Doing the math on his rehab timeframe delivers a potential return date very late in the 2011-12 season. Right now, less than a month after the operation, it's still much too early to speculate about any sort of role for this year's team. Of course, McDonald has considered it. It's what he thought about every single day after the loss to Kentucky, during a summer spent focusing on improving his ball-handling and shooting in an effort to make himself into a more consistent player.
But a serious injury has a way of refocusing those goals. First, he'll try to get back into optimal shape. Then, he'll take a look at the calendar and see what the possibilities might be.
"I have to mentally and physically be ready to put myself out there," McDonald says. "I don't want to be detrimental to the team. I want to be in tip-top shape and play at a high level...If I'm ready, I'll give it a go. If not, why not take a whole year and physically and mentally get ready?"
The Memphis native was able to get some first-hand advice on the subject from Bobby Frasor this summer. The 2009 national champion also went through ACL surgery during his Carolina career, when he learned there was much more to making a comeback than simply being cleared by the doctor. Being declared fit for basketball is one thing. Trusting the knee to make high-speed cuts and jumps is another.
"Bobby's words of encouragement were to take my time," McDonald says. "He told me to go at rehab hard. He knows how badly I want to play and he knows my pain right now. From seeing Bobby right now, he looks like he never had an injury. He said what he had to do was really go hard in rehab and take his time with everything."
It's a mark of how much maturation McDonald has done in Chapel Hill that even without prompting, he's able to assess his situation both from his personal angle and from the wider view of the 2011-12 Tar Heels. He's well aware his outside shooting and scoring abilities were supposed to be a key part of one of Carolina's biggest improvements from last season's regional final squad--a more consistent perimeter attack.
Now, with his role limited at best, he quickly turns the focus to sophomore Reggie Bullock and freshman P.J. Hairston, who are likely to be the two top outside threats earning minutes in his absence.
"This injury not only has an effect in a negative way, but also in a positive way," McDonald says. "It's pushed Reggie and P.J. to be the best they can be. They have to take some of the load off me. It's not just me shooting the ball. Those two have to knock down shots.
"I've always thought of things in life being a negative and a positive. Negativity for me can also be a positive for someone else. This can be a positive for them, because they can step up and perform, and make them better in basketball and be a better person."
Don't worry, though. McDonald won't be completely absent while his Tar Heels are trying to reach some lofty 2012 goals. Just as he's spending his fall afternoons watching pickup, he plans to be at every practice and every game.
Judging by his omnipresent Cheshire grin--and given the adversity he's faced this month, it's a relief to see it displayed so easily--he'll be easy to spot.
"You'll see me on the bench with a fly suit and a bow tie," he says. "I'll look really sharp. I have a couple outfits in store for the fans."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of six books on Carolina basketball, including the official chronicle of the first 100 years of Tar Heel hoops, A Century of Excellence, which is available now. Get real-time UNC sports updates from the THM staff on Twitter.
