Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
BAYLOR’S RICHARDS back from freak injury.
FAYETTEVILLE — DiDi Richards’ electric smile is a trademark on the basketball court, as is her high energy.
Diving for loose balls, locking down her opponent and bringing juice to the defending national champion Baylor Bears is her game. She doesn’t take plays off, even in practice.
On Oct. 24, that electricity disappeared.
In a preseason team practice, Richards — who won Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award last season, was going hard after the ball when she collided with teammate Moon Ursin in a scrimmage. Both players went down hard. Ursin suffered a concussion.
For Richards, it was much worse.
“I just wanted to get off the ground and get out of the way,” Richards said last week. “Once I woke up and came to my senses, I was like ‘Get me up, get me off the ground.’ That was the first thing that came into my head.
“Then I realized that I could not get up on my own. I could not feel anything from my hips down.”
Once Richards was loaded into an ambulance to be transported to a Waco hospital, the fear and realization of the injury began to set in.
“The thought that I might never walk again entered the back of my mind when I was in the EMS ambulance,” Richards said. “But once I got to the hospital, I started to feel a little bit, I was like, OK, this is just going to take some time. I didn’t know how long it was going to take, but I knew that I would walk again.
“But by far this is the most scary thing I’ve ever been through.”
Richards said doctors described the injury as a spinal cord injury without radiographic abnormality (SCIOWRA). It was compared to a stinger in football.
“My neurosurgeon at the hospital said he had seen a similar injury to a girl at the beach,” Richards said. “A wave hit her in the spine and the same thing happened to her. And my neurologists said that they have seen the same exact thing with football players and some recovered faster than others. So it’s just such a wide range of recovery.”
Richards spent three days in the hospital, then weeks of rehab with Baylor trainers.
She was cleared to play last week against South Florida. On Sunday against No. 16 Arkansas, Richards played a team-high 37 minutes and scored 8 points to go along with 8 assists and 7 rebounds in an 83-78 loss to the Razorbacks.
Baylor Coach Kim Mulkey praised the Baylor training staff, and specifically Alex Olson, the director of athletic medicine, for getting Richards back on the court.
“I have to give so much credit to Alex,” Mulkey said after the win against South Florida. “You have to have people you can trust as trainers. Alex was here 21 years ago when I got here, and he’s never left my side.
“I trust him in all that he does. He knows I’m ultra-conservative and he protects those players. To watch him work with Moon and DiDi, he just goes beyond the call of duty.”
Mulkey said Richards had been practicing for several weeks before she was cleared for game action.
“She’s been practicing and taking hits,” Mulkey said. “She’s DiDi. I just didn’t know when the medical people would give her the go-ahead.”
Richards said she has no plans to slow down or dial back her energy on the court despite the injury.
“Playing less than all-out is not in my DNA,” she said. “I’m a player who likes contact. I don’t think I could even teach myself to play with less energy. I think you’re going to see the same DiDi for the rest of my life.”