One Big Disappointment (cont)

I vowed that when I got back healthy I would get myself back to where I was before my injury. When I transferred the next fall to DIII Occidental, I felt confident that I could help the team right away. I was healthy again and felt good about my game. Unfortunately the coaching staff didn't feel the same way. I played sparingly for much of the year, and although I had a few breakout games of 12 and 21 points, I still didn't feel good about my role on the team. The next summer I worked harder than ever. I worked so hard that I got in even better shape than where I was two years ago at SU. In my first game of the year against D1 NCAA Tourney bound San Diego I scored 12 pts off of the bench in front of all my friends and family. "This was it," I thought to myself. This was the turning point. This season would be different, I just knew it.

Three months later I had once again grown accustomed to the bench. As the season progressed the coaching staff decided to shrink the rotation and cut my playing time. It didn't hurt that during winter break I sprained my mcl in my knee and gained 15 lbs over two months. Nonetheless, I feel i wasted another year of my college career and now find myself left with one season of eligibility, a fractured relationship with our head coach, and not knowing whether or not I should continue to play in the hope that next season will be different. Coming out of high school four years ago I certainly saw this differently...