Mar 9, 2016Monmouth Player Competes with Hand Injury
Seventeen days after undergoing surgery to repair his broken right hand, Deon Jones was able to play basketball for Monmouth in the MAAC tournament against Fairfiled with the help of a modified football lineman glove.
According to APP.com, Equipment Manager Mike Iuliucci and Athletic Trainer Vanessa Sweeney came up with the idea after Sweeney contacted the Oklahoma City Thunder athletic training staff, which had employed a similar solution for Russell Westbrook’s broken hand two seasons ago.
Jones said his doctors had cleared him to play on Thursday, and that he was confident in how well his hand had recovered.
“It’s feeling a lot better, better than yesterday even though it really wasn’t hurting that much yesterday,” Jones said on Monday afternoon. “When I first started out, I was playing a little cautious because I broke my hand, but today, it’s feeling fantastic.”
With Jones on the court, Monmouth was able to win against Fairfield 76-63. Jones recorded nine points, three assists, and seven rebounds.
“We’re a different team with him,” Monmouth head coach King Rice said. “We’re a good team without him, but you have a guy that started for three years for you, he was a starter at Towson when he was there, he’s a grown man and we’re going to miss him tremendously next year.”
