Holmes will miss WNBA season after surgery

BLOOMINGTON — IU women's basketball alum Mackenzie Holmes still has hopes of playing in the WNBA, but first, she is taking time to fix a recurring issue in her knee. She announced Wednesday she is undergoing surgery in May that will make her unavailable for the 2024 WNBA season.

"As many of you know, during my time as a Hoosier my career was interrupted multiple times due to a reocurring issue with my knee that has been present since my 9th grade year in high school," she said in a statement posted to X. "My major focus at those times was to get back on the court as quickly as possible to be with my teammates and help our team succeed. While the entire medical staff at IU was wonderful in doing everything to rehabilitate and prevent the injury, all while getting me back on the court safely, I never took the steps to correct the problem and the damage it caused."

This surgery will make her unavailable for the entirety of the 2024 WNBA season, she stated, but she is still hoping to be drafted Monday and expects to be fully healthy for training camp in 2025.

Holmes, who played five seasons for IU and is the program's all-time leading scorer, has had parts of seasons hampered by knee injuries. In 2023, she injured her knee in the Big Ten tournament, which kept her limited throughout the conference and NCAA tournaments while rehabilitating. While Holmes was limited, IU lost in the Big Ten tournament semifinals and the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Holmes reinjured her knee in the final game of the 2023-24 regular season, and she did not play in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals until the final six minutes while IU suffered a loss to Michigan. Coach Teri Moren said Holmes' kneecap "wants to shift in and out," and it has been happening her entire career.

The center finished her IU career as a three-time All-Big Ten first-team honoree, as well as a first-team All-America nod following the 2022-23 season and leaves as the school's all-time leading scorer.