As Rachel Kane lay in pain on the McCarthey Center floor, her coach made a long walk from the bench to Kane at midcourt.
Kelly Graves knelt beside Kane, holding her hand tightly and whispering reassuring words to her, while his senior point guard clutched her knee, grimacing in pain.
Finally, as Kane was carried off the floor of the silent arena, Graves headed back to the bench. The reality of the moment finally catching up with him, he took a deep breath and hung his head in sadness, collecting himself. Trying to turn his attention back to the game, he yelled out a "Let's go white!" but the look in his eyes and the sound of his voice was evidence that his heart still wasn't back into it. Graves had seen this kind of injury happen to Kane before.
Later, it was confirmed: For the third time in her tenure at Gonzaga, Kane tore her ACL. The same injury that cost Kane her freshman and junior seasons had reared its head once more.
Her senior season, and her career at Gonzaga, was over.
The first reaction would undoubtedly be anger. After all, how in the world is it fair for this to happen to Kane, a team leader, hard worker and proven veteran? After working so hard to come back from this injury twice, how is it fair that fate decided to pull a Tonya Harding on her one good knee and end her senior season in the midst of the Bulldogs dominating the WCC? Quite frankly, it isn't fair, and it isn't right.
But, in another show of what makes this women's basketball program so special, the team is finding opportunity from the ashes of disappointment.
Graves has always praised Kane's basketball knowledge, and while she no longer can take advantage of that knowledge on the court, now she will be using it on Gonzaga's bench, helping Graves as a de facto assistant coach.
"With Rachel being out, I actually think she can help us even more, because she can sit here and watch," Graves said. "Rachel's a very smart player. I think she can sit on the sidelines and really help coach, unlike we can, because Rachel's been so close to the game herself."
Kane's influence has been felt by everyone on the team, no one more so than freshman point guard Courtney Vandersloot, with whom Kane embraced the role of mentor. Upon Kane's taking the freshman under her wing, Vandersloot has emerged as a top-notch point guard and her pairing with the reliable Kane on the court only utilized her talents more. Now, Kane will be able to guide the young guard even more as Vandersloot's own personal coach, and who better to pick for the job than someone whom Vandersloot credits all her improvement to.
Kane may not be directing the offense, but she is still a member of the team.
That shows how important Graves' program considers everyone involved. Rather than move on after the injury and push Kane to the background, they are embracing her, allowing her to still be an important part of a team that owes a lot of their success to Kane's efforts.
This is more than just a basketball team. Sure, it is still a business, and the pressure to win is ever-present, but this doesn't fully steer the mindsets of those involved in the program. To see how truly this team and its coaches care about one another is something you don't see as often or as openly elsewhere.
Rachel Kane may have blown out her knee and collapsed to the floor during that fateful play, but from the way her teammates and coaches have banded together for her, it looks like Kane - and her knee - will have all the support they will ever need.
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