Brown’s season threatened by injury

By Robert Sisk

Published: October 9, 2008

Liberty University is only midway through preseason practice, but Devon Brown’s season is already in jeopardy.

The all-time leading point scorer in VHSL Group AA history and former Waynesboro basketball star has developed a borderline stress fracture in her left foot that has kept her off the practice court, according to Flames head coach Carey Green.

“One doctor calls it a stress fracture and another doesn’t. It’s really a pre-stress fracture,” Green said. “You put too much just on one foot and ‘snap.’ ”

Brown said the injury just hit her during a workout and she has struggled with it since.

“It was out of the blue,” she said. “I was fine and it just hit me. Then I kept going and it just kept coming.”

Green said that Brown has been fitted for an orthotic and has been wearing a protective boot around the Lynchburg campus. He is unsure of when Brown will be back in full form.

“She’s been slowed down,” Green said. “It goes from foot hurting a little bit to ‘let’s get an MRI’ … We are taking it one step at a time. Every X-ray or MRI shows a hot spot that can become a stress fracture.”

The Flames are not ready to red shirt Brown while she rehabilitates but have not thrown out that possibility either.

“We’ve already tried to get her back out and it backfired; she was not ready to go,” Green said. “It flared up immediately. If it ends up being a red shirt, it is disappointing, but most people have short vision and don’t see what’s down the road. She is going to have a long career.”

Brown said she is focusing on rehabilitation and is adjusting well to the college lifestyle.

“It hurts, but you gotta do what you gotta do,” she said. “I’m loving it. My teammates are good.”

While at Waynesboro, Brown scored 2,728 points in her career. She also broke the VHSL record for most rebounds in a season in 2008 with 513.