Men’s Basketball: Gary recovering after leg surgery

UL forward looking at long rehab

Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • March 6, 2009

UL forward La’Ryan Gary was resting comfortably at Lafayette General Medical Center after undergoing surgery Wednesday night for a stomach-turning leg injury during a season-ending loss to Florida International in a Sun Belt Conference Tournament first-round game.

The junior hurt his left leg Wednesday while making a back-door cut to the basket with 2:21 left in the first half of the 71-69 loss. Gary remained on the floor screaming in pain until trainers attended to him on the court.

A former St. Thomas More and Carencro standout, Gary had his leg put in an aircast and was eventually carted off the court and taken to Southwest Medical Center. He later underwent successful surgery at LGMC.

Gary’s former coach at Carencro, Christopher Kovatch, spoke with him Thursday morning in his hospital room.

From the information that Kovatch gathered, Gary suffered a torn patella tendon, a dislocated knee cap, a broken tibia and possible ligament tears.

Gary told Kovatch he had four pins inserted to reattach his tibia.

"The way he described it to me was that when he was left the ground the bottom part of his leg stay there and everything else kept going," Kovatch said. "He said there was a chunk of bone that came off with the patella. It’s hard to fathom.

"There was so much torque to make the ligament or (patella) tendon pull away from the bone."

Kovatch, who threw the javelin at UL from 1994-97, said he’s never seen such a gruesome injury in 10 years as a basketball coach.

"(Former UL track and field star) Hollis Conway once tore his Achilles’ tendon in Germany and had one really bad knee injury," Kovatch said. "But I had never seen anything like what happened to La’Ryan. I saw it happen and what like ‘What just happened?’

"It was just surreal because you feel so powerless."

Gary averaged 6.9 points and 4.0 rebounds in 28 games this season.

An undersized forward at 6-foot-7, he has always relied on his explosiveness and leaping ability to beat bigger defenders in college.

UL coach Robert Lee declined an interview request on Thursday. After Wednesday’s loss, he provided what he knew about Gary’s injury.

"I can’t remember the specifics," Lee said. "He tore a couple different things in his leg. It was a major, major injury to his knee.

"It was something I’ve never seen before."

The road to recovery will apparently be a long one for Gary.

"No one has said anything about basketball yet, but I’ve been told it’s going to be six-to-eight months for any recovery," Kovatch said. "One of the first things he said when he looked at me was ‘six-to-eight months’ with a look like ‘I can’t believe this.’"

The best comparison Kovatch could make for a similar injury was former Los Angeles Clippers guard Shaun Livingston, who suffered a dislocated knee cap and three torn ligaments in a game against Charlotte on Feb. 26, 2007.

The former first-round pick signed with the Miami Heat as a free agent this past October but has never returned to his pre-injury form.

Kovatch reminds people not to count out Gary, who became academically eligible at UL after sitting out of competition as a freshman.

"Once he can rehab, he’s going to work hard and do everything in his power to get back on the court," Kovatch said. "That’s just his character.

"No matter the outcome, he’s going to try his absolute best to get back to the level he was at before the injury."