Following a strong finish a season ago, hopes were high that the Utes would have a great 2013-2014 campaign. After all, their two best players, Canadian forwards Michelle Plouffe and Taryn Wicijowski, were set to return.
Those goals will be much harder to achieve as Utah head coach Anthony Levrets confirmed last Thursday that Wicijowski will be out for the entire year. In July, Wicijowski tore her ACL while playing in an open gym game and she had surgery in August. It was the second ACL tear of her career.
“It was definitely extremely frustrating,” she said. “As soon as it happened, I knew what it was. I didn’t need to go to a doctor. I just knew.”
Wicijowski was second on the team last season in points, rebounds and blocks. She anticipates that it will be six to seven months before she can participate again in practice. Although it still isn’t entirely clear who will take over Wicijowski’s spot in the starting lineup, Levrets was quick to point out that there are a number of options to choose from.
“It’s not like we are not going to miss her,” Levrets said. “But we have a couple returning in Nakia [Arquette] and Ariel [Reynolds] and two freshmen that are both very, very talented. They don’t have the experience that [Wicijowski] has, but I think it gives these kids opportunities to step up and do what they can do. They just have to do it a little bit sooner.”
The two freshmen who will have to step up in Wicijowski’s absence are Emily Potter and Wendy Anae. Potter, who stands at 6 feet 5 inches, is from Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada and participated on the Canadian Cadette Team in the FIBA U17 World Championships. Anae is a player from San Diego, Calif. who is a good shooter and has looked up to Wicijowski since joining the Utes’ squad during the summer.
“In our sport, injuries happen,” Levrets said. “Everybody loses players. It is just part of our game. It’s the next group of people that have to step up.”
Wicijowski has learned to cope with the injury and has found a new role as a sideline leader and example. Potter and Anae are just two of the five freshmen the Utes have on their roster and Wicijowski sees her injury as an opportunity to help the younger players improve their game.
“Obviously their role is going to be a lot different than it would have been if I was playing,” she said. “I’m just kind of trying to help them get through with learning our system, just have some extra confidence … I know with freshmen confidence is a huge thing, so hopefully if I can get them comfortable and confident, then I think they will have an opportunity to be like real impact players. The earlier the impact the better.”