It’s over for ‘Big Dub’

By Gary Bedore     Feb 28, 2003

Journal-World File Photo
Kansas sophomore Wayne Simien, who missed 11 games already this season, will sit the rest of his sophomore year. Simien reinjured his shoulder Wednesday night against Texas A&M and will undergo surgery, coach Roy Williams said Thursday.

Kansas University power forward Wayne Simien’s sophomore season is over.

“He gave it an unbelievable shot. The doctors gave it an unbelievable shot, but we’re basically shutting it down for the rest of the season,” KU men’s basketball coach Roy Williams said Thursday.

The 6-foot-9, 255-pound Simien, who missed 11 games after dislocating his right shoulder Jan. 4, suffered a shoulder subluxation — a dislocation that he was able to pop back in without a doctor’s assistance — five minutes into Wednesday’s 85-45 home victory against Texas A&M.

Simien was X-rayed Thursday, and in a midmorning meeting with doctors was told he’d need to rehab at least the next two weeks before being cleared to play again.

Rather than carry the uncertainty into the postseason, Simien, his parents and Williams decided Thursday to schedule surgery and get on with rehabilitation.

“It’s just gotten to be such a burden,” Williams said. “Every time he flinches, he’s got everybody worried he’s hurting himself again. When a kid tells you, ‘Coach, it’s hard for my mom to sit there and see me wince. My mom is always on edge.’ You think about that.”

How the injury will affect the Jayhawks is anyone’s guess as they try to wrap up a second-straight Big 12 Conference title and make a repeat trip to the Final Four. Williams remained upbeat.

“I think the first thing we have to do is understand Wayne’s deal, put that behind us and understand we’ve still got some great opportunities ahead of us,” he said.

Recurring story

Simien’s parents and KU fans have “winced” watching Simien reinjure his shoulder in three of the four games since his Feb. 16 return against Iowa State.

An emotional Simien said it felt as if a fork was jammed in his shoulder after the Colorado game Feb. 19.

“Wayne doesn’t have to go through the pain any more,” Wayne Simien Sr. said Thursday. “It’s disappointing for him. He hates this.”

Simien Jr., who had arthroscopic surgery on the same right shoulder after his senior year at Leavenworth High School, knows what is ahead: surgery to repair ligament damage.

The surgery will be performed in late March in New York by Dr. Russell Warren, team physician of the New York Giants since 1984 and chief surgeon at New York’s Hospital For Special Surgery.

Warren is considered an expert in the field of shoulder surgery.

Williams said the procedure would “tighten things up” in Simien’s shoulder.

“There is not any structural damage or any (bone) chips, not anything pulled away from the bone,” Williams said. “The subluxation happened last night because it’s so loose in there. … All those things in that joint, (the surgery will) tighten them to make it more difficult to dislocate.”

KU trainer Mark Cairns said Simien would lose some range of motion in the shoulder, but not enough to hamper the player’s college or NBA career.

“For baseball players and swimmers, it’s a big concern,” Cairns said. “Five degrees to those people is a lot of motion. Basketball players don’t need excessive range of motion. Wayne’s range should be fine.”

The X-rays taken Thursday showed the 2001 surgery “did its job,” Cairns said. “The bone looks good. The ball part of the socket looks very good.”

There’s a good chance Dr. Jeff Randall, a Lawrence surgeon who performed the surgery on Simien two years ago, will assist Warren.

“Dr. Randall said this morning, ‘I can do the surgery. I have no problem doing the surgery, but NBA scouts and NBA agents don’t know who I am, so it matters who does the surgery for his longevity in playing basketball,”’ Cairns said. “We’ll also know it will be done right — especially with Dr. Randall looking over his shoulder.”

Heavy burden to shoulderHere’s a timeline detailing Wayne Simien’s shoulder troubles this season:Jan. 4 — Simien suffers dislocated right shoulder after catching his hand in a net during a 100-46 romp over UMKC in Kansas City’s Kemper Arena. Doctors prescribe rehabilitation.Feb. 14 — Coach Roy Williams announces Simien will return to duty against Iowa State.Feb. 16 — After missing 11 games, Simien returns to action. Wearing a brace called a Cadlow Shoulder Stabilizer, he comes off the bench to score seven points and snatch seven rebounds in 18 minutes of duty in a 70-51 victory over Iowa State in Allen Fieldhouse. “I definitely had some nerves in my stomach,” Simien said.Feb. 19 — Simien scores 21 points and grabs 13 boards in just 20 minutes during Jayhawks’ 94-87 victory over Colorado in Allen Fieldhouse. After his yeoman performance, Simien says: “I feel like I’ve got a fork jammed in my shoulder.”Sunday — Simien scores 17 points and grabs seven rebounds in 24 minutes in a 77-70 loss at Oklahoma. “This is the worst it has felt of the three games,” Simien says of his aching shoulder.Wednesday — Simien suffers subluxation of the shoulder while attempting to block a shot after playing just 40 seconds in 85-45 rout of Texas A&M. Williams calls it the “most serious tweak since he hurt it the first time.”Thursday — Williams announces Simien will not play any more this season and will have surgery, probably in late March. Simien’s final numbers: 14.8 points and 8.2 rebounds in 16 games.

Second thoughts?

Williams was asked Thursday whether Simien should have undergone surgery immediately after the injury or whether he should have waited a few more weeks before returning to action.

“In hindsight you can look back and say what would have happened if we held him out two more weeks. The fact of the matter is nobody knows,” Williams said.

He noted that, just to be safe, he held out Simien an extra three weeks after doctors cleared him to play Jan. 22.

The contact with A&M’s Bernard King that reinjured Simien’s shoulder “was a fly on a horse’s rear. There was not much to it. He’d taken that kind of contact 10 to 15 times before,” Williams said.

The bottom line is Simien wanted to play basketball this season and postpone surgery until after the season. He lasted three-plus games in his aborted comeback.

“I think what we tried really worked,” Williams said. “Wayne Simien got to play three conference games and was big in those games. Wayne Simien never felt better in his life than he did in the Colorado game. He had 21 points, 13 rebounds in 20 minutes. The ovation he got from the crowd, the admiration and the respect of his teammates and the people was special to him. You can’t have any better moments than that.”

Simien was unavailable for comment Thursday.

“He said, ‘Coach, I’m just tired of answering the questions,'” Williams said.

It’s over for Simien

By Levi Chronister     Feb 27, 2003

Wayne Simien’s season is over. After discussion between KU head coach Roy Williams, Simien, his parents and a number of doctors, the decision was made to hold Simien out of the Jayhawks’ remaining games.

“We’re basically shutting it down for the rest of the season,” Williams said. “We’ll go ahead and schedule the surgery and get on with the rehab.”


For more on this story, return to this site for updates, tune in to 6News at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Sunflower Broadband’s cable Channel 6 and pick up a copy of the Lawrence Journal-World.

PREV POST

Roy Williams press conference quotes

NEXT POST

2854It’s over for Simien