The Chanticleer

Issue date: 10/26/06 Section: Features

It's the start of your senior year, and this season could possibly be the last chance you have to play collegiate basketball. You have no idea that during the first game of the season, your whole world is about to come crashing down.

Welcome to senior communication major Cobie Carlisle's life. Originally from Lima, Ohio, Carlisle came to JSU after carefully weighing all her options.

"I had quite a few colleges looking at me and offering me different scholarships, but it was different when Coach [Dave] Dagostino talked to me about JSU. He really helped me through the whole recruiting process; it was more like a friend advising me, which instantly put me at ease," said Carlisle. "I had no idea what I was doing, and if you listen to what everyone tells you, you will get so confused. Coach Dagostino was one of the main reasons I came here."

It is no wonder that so many colleges were hot on Carlisle's trail - her resume reads like a basketball dream, starting with her high school career highlights: All-Ohio first team selection, Ohio Northwest Player of the Year, starting guard in the Ohio-Indiana All-Star game, a Miss Ohio Basketball nominee, and she is the all-time leading scorer at Lima High School with over 1,000 points.

Carlisle continued climbing her ladder of success as she packed her bags and signed her scholarship offer contracting her to Jacksonville State for the 2002-2003 school year. She began her collegiate career on the right foot, sporting jersey #13, and started all 28 games of her freshman season while scoring in the double figures five times. Carlisle's sophomore year was more of the same, playing in 28 games with three double-doubles and scoring a season high 16 points in four games. Her junior year, she started 23 games while posting a career high 17 points against both Morehead State and Tennessee Tech. All this led up to her senior year as she was expecting once again to improve her skills on the basketball court.

Until: "We were on a fastbreak, and my best friend and teammate, Courtney Slaughter #23, bounce-passed me the ball, I jump-stopped, and my left knee kind of went somewhere while the rest of my leg did not," Carlisle remembered.

"After getting my MRI results back couple weeks later, I found out I had torn my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)."

A torn ACL can be a very serious injury because the cruciate ligament in the knee criss-crosses, connecting the thigh bone to the shin bone. When torn, it unravels like a braided rope and does not heal on its own.

Continued...

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