Luke Axtell has been through many trials during his two seasons at Kansas University.
The 6-foot-10 senior shooting guard from Austin, Texas, has suffered, in order …
A broken hand.
An undisclosed medical condition.
A severe ankle sprain.
And now, a bad back that’s plagued him the past three weeks, since KU’s victory at Oklahoma on Jan. 13.
All the problems have made some wonder whether Axtell has considered chucking it all in and concentrating on something else, like say his interest in music.
“It crosses your mind,” said Axtell, who will have an MRI performed on his back today to see if the exact problem can be diagnosed.
“You have to battle it. You just can’t (quit). No way I can just sit here and say, ‘My back is hurt. I can’t play.’ Whether the MRI comes out good or not, until the last game is finished I’m going to stick with it.”
Axtell said his faith in God he was reborn last summer has helped him through his tribulations and kept him from feeling sorry for himself.
“People look at the things that happened in my life and say, ‘Gosh if he has the Lord, why does this stuff keep happening to him?”‘ Axtell said. “The fact is the Lord doesn’t care what’s going on in basketball. He cares where my heart is.”
Axtell’s heart is in the right place. It’s his back that’s dislodged right now. He said his back has bothered him the past several years but has never flared to this degree.
“My left leg is longer than the right. That might have something to do with it,” he said of yearly back pain.
And about that pain and discomfort?
“Sometimes after a game or after I do something and sit awhile, I can’t stand back up,” Axtell explained. “Coming back from Oklahoma, getting off the plane I had pain shooting down my leg. I almost dropped when I came off that plane cause once it’s locked, it’s locked.
“It’s the worst when I try to jump or when I’m leaning over in a defensive stance. When I raise up, it’ll catch. It affects your control of your body. I feel like I’m 7-foot-4 sometimes in terms of coordination. Your feet don’t go where you want them to. I don’t have the strength. It kills you in a lot of ways.
“I’m well enough to get out there and run and do some things decently, but not well enough to do my duty. It’s pretty annoying.”
The good news is Axtell’s back has felt better since Monday’s loss at Missouri.
He’d like to be close to 100 percent heading into Saturday’s battle against Texas. Tipoff is noon at Allen Fieldhouse.
Axtell attended UT his freshman year (1997-98 season), transferring after a feud with former coach Tom Penders.
“I’m more worried about getting my shots in than the opponent,” said Axtell. He’s missed 11 threes without a make over the last six games.
“I was thinking about this yesterday … all the ties I have to the Texas program are pretty much gone. Everybody from my class is gone. It’s just another game.”
Last year’s game would not have been just another game to Axtell. Some of his former UT teammates Chris Mihm and Gabe Muoneke played in the Longhorns’ 68-54 win over KU in Austin.
Axtell did not make the trip for that late February encounter.
He’d left the team with the undisclosed medical condition, a condition Axtell says he’ll discuss with media after his senior season is over.
“I had other things to worry about besides that game,” Axtell said. “I’d like to have gone there and won. It didn’t happen.
“There are a lot of things I’d like to have done last year: Played in the Big 12 Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. I’ve not gone to one yet. Those things didn’t happen.”
Axtell he admits he still is a Texas football fan says he wouldn’t have minded playing the Lornhorns in Austin this year, even though he’d be booed unmercifully.
“I don’t know, maybe I’d catch fire again. I had some good games in there (Erwin Center),” Axtell said. During his freshman year, he knocked in 68 threes in 173 tries in 28 games. Since becoming eligible at KU, he’s made 47 of 121 threes in 33 total games. “I’d rather play here. Why would I want to go on the road and be in some hotel. It might be nice to go there and get some good barbecue. That’d be good.”
Axtell says he hasn’t received any nasty phone calls from Texas fans the past couple seasons. He was harassed after deciding to transfer.
“Hopefully people have been able to let it go by now,” Axtell said. “That kind of grudge could kill a person.”
Axtell says he will never regret coming to KU even though things haven’t worked out that well because of illness and injury.
“The main reason I’m glad I came here is how much I’ve been able to grow up,” he said. “From high school to the end of my freshman year (at UT) I stayed the same person. When I showed up here I was a wreck because I didn’t have any discipline whatsoever.
“I felt robbed of that there. The guys here were used to being based in the real world. Being here three years I’ve been able to grow up so much. I’ve gained perseverance, everything you need in the real world. It’s hard to explain without saying something bad about another place.
“You have to be kicked in the butt to become independent. That never happened that year (at UT).”
KU coach Roy Williams hopes Axtell won’t be beaten down anymore. He wishes health for the lanky sharpshooter.
“He’s had a marvelous attitude this year particularly,” Williams said, noting Axtell had been doing everything the trainers ask massage, heat, electrical stem treatments in regards to back rehab. “He’s so much more mature. He’s understood the seriousness of it, understands how important the basketball season is. He’s been able to handle the ups and downs.”
“Luke has had a great attitude,” said senior Kenny Gregory, who in the past had back problems of his own. “He’s not been complaining about his back. He had been doing everything he can to help this team win. He has a great attitude on and off the court and sometimes that’s tough when you are injured.”
