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Kansas guard Brannen Greene warms up before tipoff in the Jayhawks' second-round NCAA Tournament game against New Mexico State on Friday, March 20, 2015 in Omaha, Nebraska.
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Brannen Greene walked briskly toward a group of reporters Monday afternoon in Allen Fieldhouse without the slightest trace of a limp.
It was an impressive gait for the Kansas University junior basketball guard, who had been on crutches the past seven weeks after undergoing surgery in mid-April to repair a torn labrum in his right hip.
“For sure,” the 6-foot-7, 215-pound Juliette, Georgia, native said, asked if it was encouraging to walk under his own power Monday for the first time in a long time. “But I’ve still got to work. I’m just excited to get off these crutches and get back to work.”
The crutches were a huge annoyance for Greene, who had never experienced a serious injury before.
“You’ve got to depend on other people constantly, especially at the beginning. You can’t really do anything,” said Greene, who relied a lot on his girlfriend, “for rides, to eat, to go downstairs. It gets annoying. Getting off the crutches is definitely a happy day for me.”
Now off crutches for the first time in two months following hip surgery this past spring, Kansas junior forward Brannen Greene talks with media members about his progress, as he rehabs in preparation for the 2015-16 basketball season. Greene said he is on track to be 100 percent by the ...
His rehab thus far, which has included early-morning workouts with KU trainer Bill Cowgill, “has been pretty simple, try to isolate the hip. You’ve got to keep your glutes and hamstring, quads all strong while not aggravating the hip,” Greene said. “Right around five, six weeks is when I could start doing external rotation. That was big for me. I could start putting on my socks, putting on my shoes, clothes, things like that.”
Now he’ll step up the rehab.
“I have three more months of progress,” he said. “I can start jogging in the pool, get back to running, walking. I should be ready by the time practice starts (in October). When I mean ready, I mean full speed. That’s definitely a good thing.”
His surgery was performed by Dr. J.W. Thomas Byrd at Nashville Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center. The Tennessee Titans team doctor has authored textbooks on hip arthroscopy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYfVCXWJP3Y“He told me one of the Florida Gators football players was in right before me. He usually does two to three athletes a week at the high-major Div. I level. They always recover, come back fine,” Greene said.
Aside from chatting with his doctor, Greene said he hasn’t done much research on other players with past hip problems.
“I don’t think I want to look around. Aaron Hernandez (had the) same surgery, so that’s not good to look around,” Greene said, jokingly referring to the former New England Patriots player now in prison.
Greene said he actually had been suffering from the injury since the end of January, when he felt something pop in the hip area while stretching. The three-point bomber closed the season on a 4-for-26 three-point shooting slump (over nine games).
“I couldn’t get that lift off it (right leg), the power,” said Greene who averaged 5.7 points a game overall off 42.2 percent shooting — 40.4 from three (40 of 99). “It’s all about rhythm. I have no excuses how I shot, though. I still could make shots. I’ve got to get in the gym and work.”
He thinks he’ll be a threat this season.
“I think it’s always there,” he said of his outside shot. “I think I’ll definitely pick up where I left off during the middle of the season (he hit 17 of 24 threes during a seven-game stretch in league play) and hopefully keep moving from there. I’m just looking forward to our season. It’s time now. We have no excuses. We can’t look at being young or anything like that. Me, Frank (Mason), Wayne (Selden) are juniors. Perry (Ellis)’s a senior. Jamari (Traylor) is a senior. We have a ton of veterans. There’s no excuses.”
Comments
Steve Zimmerman 6 years, 11 months ago
perfect timing, bro! have a speedy recovery on your shooting touch.. can't wait to see those beautiful shots falling like rain again!!
Tony Bandle 6 years, 11 months ago
BG...hang in there, young man. Jayhawk Nation is behind you, cheering you on!!
Jay Scott 6 years, 11 months ago
Girlfriend? Singular? Just one?
Richie Cusack - "A lot of great-looking women in the world. I never met one made me wanna give up all the others."
Rodney Pain 6 years, 11 months ago
Get well soon, Brannen. We'll be needing that sweet J working if we're going to make any kind of run this year.
John Randall 6 years, 11 months ago
It is good to have some at least semi-reliable information on Brannen's actual condition and recovery, piecemeal and tardy as it is.
I am often frustrated with Coach Self's penchant for keeping everyone one (fans included) as ignorant possible on all matters. I guess Bill really bought in at a young age to the wartime mentality of "Loose Lips Sink Ships" some of us remember first hand.
Aaron Paisley 6 years, 11 months ago
How is this information tardy? This is the first big step in the rehab process since the surgery and nothing has changed in the projected time line from April. He should start running in the next few weeks and he should be ready to go sometime around Labor Day and be 100% ready when practice starts in October.
Mike Riches 6 years, 11 months ago
Wishing Brannen a successful full recovery.
It's hard to know where to expect his level of play to be this coming year. I don't think it's fair to expect him to have another streak like the 17 of 24 that he had this past year. But I do think he could go 40% from behind the line this year, which would be enough to stretch defenses when he's in the game. Here's what I know, Brannen shooting well makes us a much better team.
Len Shaffer 6 years, 11 months ago
It's always good to be reminded how little we actually know as fans. I'm sure many people joined me in wondering what was going on with Brannen's shots and why they suddenly stopped falling. This is yet another reminder of how often we don't know when injuries are playing a part.
David Hall 6 years, 11 months ago
he will be good to go when basketball season start
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