Marist women’s basketball junior guard Malea Egan and senior guard Morgan Tompkins have spent this season at practice, as expected, but not in the way they anticipated. They join the huddles, leaning in whenever head coach Erin Doughty explains something or yells out a play.
Egan and Tompkins attend every game and every practice, but rather than playing on the hardwood, they sit on the bench, offering advice when it feels right. Just a couple of steps away from the smiling team playing the sport they love, Tompkins and Egan watch after injuries ripped their seasons away from them.
“Gamedays are really hard,” said Tompkins. “Everyone’s smiling, but as selfish as it is, the only thing you can think about is, ‘I wish I could be out there.’”
In women’s college basketball, players traditionally only get four seasons. For Tompkins and Egan, season-ending injuries added a new challenge to their collegiate careers but not at the expense of a year. Per NCAA rules, if an athlete suffers a season-ending injury, they can apply for a “medical hardship waiver.” The waiver requires the injury to occur in the first half of the season and limits participation to 30% or less of total games.
Tompkins went down first. Coming off shoulder surgery, she suffered a devastating, rare knee injury as the offseason ended during practice on Sept.4. The senior suffered a torn ACL, a meniscus injury, an LCL sprain and a fractured tibia.
“The second I hit the ground, I knew.”
Morgan tompkins
At the beginning of Tompkins’ rehab session, she worked alongside senior forward Ciara Croker. They cheered each other on every step of the way. After Croker returned to the court, the injuries continued for the Red Foxes.
In the U.S. Virgin Islands’ Paradise Jam tournament, Marist matched up with No. 5 LSU. Five minutes into the Nov. 28 game, Egan controlled a fast break and lost her footing, falling to the floor right in front of the basket.
The officials called an injury timeout while Egan held her knee on the floor next to the Marist bench. After a few minutes, teammates carried the point guard off the court to the locker room.
The junior did not think the injury was anything significant. After the team returned to Poughkeepsie, Egan went home for the holidays where she was able to walk on her leg for a couple of days before she received the news; she tore her ACL, effectively ending her junior season.
“It was like, wow, that really happened,” said Egan.
Two weeks after the diagnosis, Egan underwent surgery on her knee. The junior entered rehab immediately and was fortunate to have two teammates by her side who helped her learn about the process. Redshirt senior guard Lexie Tarul missed the first two seasons of her collegiate career because of injuries, including a torn ACL.
Tompkins has also been by Egan’s side throughout the process. The two have worked together, not rushing anything, and understand the rehab process’s length.
“I have to be easier on myself. It puts it into perspective that it’s going to be longer,” said Egan.
Despite the injury, Egan is walking almost perfectly fine. The only things she cannot do are play basketball and weight train. Tompkins, on the other hand, has faced a far more challenging rehab and spent most of the process on crutches.
The injury kept Tompkins off her feet for three months, forcing her to learn new ways to navigate her life. At home, she hopped on her left foot to get up and down the stairs; she used a knee scooter to get around her house. She lives on the third floor of her apartment, so the guard needed to crawl up and hop down the stairs, carrying her items along with her.
Eventually, Tompkins decided she was sick of not being around her team and wanted to return before the season started. She started working with a physical therapist who told her that she could not walk at Paradise Jam. In order to enjoy the beach, she set a goal for herself to be off her crutches by then.
The process took three months. Some days were humbling for Tompkins, but she never gave up. She worked with the doctors three times per week, and the visits paid off.
“The first time I walked into PT, there were tears in the eyes,” said Tompkins.
Tompkins walked in the Virgin Islands, but the rehab process still moved slowly; her progress was up and down.
By late January, she finally succeeded at a box jump for the first time in six months, but some days, she finds difficulty just standing on her foot. The senior has been strong during a very challenging process. Tompkins’ family has provided support too; her mom, Leslie, helped cook her meals at home, and her dog, Dakota, offered comfort.
The rehab process has felt long for both athletes, but rather than taking time off from the team, they found other ways to make an impact from the sidelines. The two attend practice every day; from the sidelines, they observe things that their teammates cannot see. They also learned to use their voice in the locker room and during timeouts.
“Watching it has its own beauty to it,” said Egan of watching practices. “You can notice things your teammates might miss.”
The two still embrace Doughty’s culture, helping out their teammates and giving advice on and off the court.
“Giving and pouring into the people who are here is how you build your culture,” said Doughty.
Tompkins and Egan miss playing basketball, but above all else, they miss playing with their teammates. They miss the competition of practices and stepping on the court with their best friends. They are with the team every day, but it is not the same with their injuries.
When she steps back on the court, Egan looks forward to incorporating some of the things she learned from the sidelines, but she also does not want to risk anything. Reinjuring a torn ACL can happen when a player returns too soon, and although she wants nothing more than to compete alongside her teammates, she does not want to repeat her current situation.
“The sense of wanting to touch a basketball, I just can’t stop myself,” said Egan.
Though she is not sure if she will return to Marist or even play basketball ever again, Tompkins wants nothing more than to return to Poughkeepsie for one more year; however, she does not know if her meniscus will hold up.
Famous athletes, including former men’s tennis player Roger Federer and retired NBA All-Star Derrick Rose, saw their careers end because of knee injuries. Tompkins will continue to work through the rehab process until she is healthy enough to test the possibility of returning. The process could last throughout the offseason, since rehab takes upwards of 9-12 months.
“There’s nothing more that I want to do than be out on the court smiling,” said Tompkins.
If she cannot return from injury, she will cherish the friendships she made at Marist. Though a tough pill to swallow, the senior looks ahead to what her future may look like.
Tompkins aspires to join the police academy and become a state trooper; she wants to work in the children’s unit. The senior learned how to communicate with children through the Marist basketball camps, talking to them about being away from their parents.
Egan’s focus remains clear. She will continue to exercise patience in the rehab process and target a return for next season. The injury process has been very challenging, but for Tompkins and Egan, the rehab process helped them grow both on the court and off the court.
Edited by Max Rosen and Mike Duda
Graphic by Xavier Angel
Photos from Marist Athletics
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