Will I ever be myself? When can I play again? Are my future endeavors ruined?

Those were the questions going through Larry Nance Jr.’s head as he clutched his right knee and turned over on his left side.

The Wyoming forward had just attempted to get out of a Fresno State double team on the left block with a hop, dribble and pass. But then it all went wrong.

“My right leg came down sooner than I thought it would and it just twisted wrong and I felt something pop in my knee,” Nance said. “I heard it pop. From that point on it was just excruciating pain.”

After being carried off the court, the 6-foot-8 star forward sat on a courtside trainer’s table with his legs extended and head buried in a Gatorade towel.

The fear became a reality the next day, as Nance was ruled out for the season with a torn right ACL on Feb. 19, 2014. The Cowboys lost six of their last seven games, and its best player was tasked with finding answers to the three questions he posed himself when grimacing in front of the home bench in Arena-Auditorium.

Seven months later, those questions turned to answers, and now Nance is averaging a team-leading 16.2 points and seven rebounds as the driving force behind Wyoming’s (16-3, 5-1 Mountain West) scorching start. The senior was name-dropped as one of the country’s underappreciated players by Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim on Tuesday, and has restored the explosiveness that defined his game before the injury.

“I don’t think anybody would’ve stopped him,” UW senior guard Riley Grabau said of Nance getting back to full strength. “He did a tremendous job of working hard and getting back, and he’s looking better than he was last year.”

Nance said he couldn’t do any real dynamic movement while rehabbing, so he just wanted to shoot. He worked on 15-foot jump shots and free throws, exercises that weren’t too physically demanding but kept him on the court.

Cowboys head coach Larry Shyatt said Nance worked extensively with his orthopedic surgeon and the team’s trainer, which contributed to his abnormally quick seven-month rehab.

On Nov. 22, 2014, Nance and Wyoming guard Josh Adams were on a two-on-one fast break against 6-foot-10 Colorado forward Josh Scott. Adams got just beyond the foul line and lofted the ball behind him for Nance, who elevated, mounted Scott and threw down a ferocious one-handed dunk as Scott crumbled under him.

“I would have to say my wild (dunk) against Colorado earlier this year, just because it was kind of a little of a load off my shoulders,” Nance said of his favorite dunk. “… kind of like a sigh of relief like, ah … I’m back.”

After Syracuse forward Rakeem Christmas scored 35 points in a win over Wake Forest on Tuesday, Boeheim was asked why he doesn’t think his senior gets much national attention. The head coach asked the reporter, “Do you know who the best player on Wyoming is?”

The reporter responded “no” and Boeheim retorted, “Exactly, he averages 18 and 12,” to show that star players on teams out of the national spotlight don’t get the credit they deserve.

And while Boeheim slightly exaggerated Nance’s numbers, learning about the moment gave him chills.

“I actually had no idea that happened,” Nance said, laughing. “Jim Boeheim is obviously one of the greatest coaches to ever coach the game and the fact that he even knows my name is really cool. I mean if I could, I would thank him.”

It hasn’t been all pretty for Nance, though, and a familiar opponent once again exposed the big man recently.

Saturday was the first time Wyoming played Fresno State since the injury and Nance missed a potential 15-foot game-winner as time expired in regulation, sending the game to overtime. He then botched two free throws with the game tied and half a second left in the second extra period.

The two things he mainly worked on during rehab failed him.

But with 1:05 left in the third overtime and the game tied, a Nance hook shot from the right block put the Cowboys ahead for good in their 16th win.

Almost a year later, Nance still remembers the exact second his injury occurred.

“Fourteen minutes, 51 seconds left in the second half, home against Fresno State,” he says without hesitation.

Saturday’s final mark, though, was in stark contrast to the moment he ended on last time against the Bulldogs; a microcosm of sorts for a player and team restored to full strength.

“It’s really cool that Wyoming is getting a little bit of spotlight attention,” Nance said. “I’m just glad I can be one of the driving forces behind that.”

Published on January 20, 2015 at 12:08 am

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman