Damon Brooks hasn't been to a basketball game since his accident, but is looking forward to the Hoopsville Classic. Some of the tournament proceeds will go to Brooks's medical expenses. Photo by Gina Sanderson

Nearly seven months from when his world seemingly forever changed during a freak on-campus accident in a residential hallway at Goucher College, Damon Brooks is bound to a wheelchair and watching a basketball season start without him for the first time since his formative years. Some days, it steals his spirit like he is on the wrong end of a 20-0 run.

And then there are those other days, where even small signs of progress make him dream against the long odds of leading a fast break again.

The twitches he has been feeling recently in his upper right leg. The ability to wiggle his big toes and right thumb. The movement and dexterity in his arms. Doctors tell him his progress almost seven months later is tantamount to what patients experience two years into their recovery.

For a young man who saw his hoop dreams dashed after an encouraging rookie season for Goucher, it emboldens him with belief.

“I will play again. You can quote me on that,” Brooks said in a phone interview earlier this week. “My drive and determination will persevere through it all.”

This Saturday, Brooks will make an appearance at the first-ever Hoopsville National Invitational Classic at Stevenson University, the first time he will watch basketball in person since becoming paralyzed.

“I'm very eager to see basketball live in action,” Brooks said.

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Brooks knew adversity before his accident; his father passed away six years ago. After a proud prep career at nearby Springbrook High School, going to Goucher offered the opportunity to play basketball, get an education, build toward a bright future together with his girlfriend of three years, Alex Sanderson.

And then, weeks after averaging 7.7 points in 23 games across a promising freshman season that led Goucher coach Leonard Trevino to confidently proclaim, “He was going to be a very good player,” Brooks' potential was now only spoken of in the past tense.

Brooks says there is never a day that passes without him replaying the events of April 20, 2012. Two days short of his 19th birthday, he was wrestling with a friend when he landed on his neck, misaligned his C4 and C5 vertebrae, and bruised his spinal cord.

“I felt it immediately, I couldn't get back up,” Brooks said. “I was gasping for air, I was thirsty.”

As originally reported by D3sports.com's Dave McHugh, Brooks' life became a blur, transformed from able-bodied to unstable. Although the then-freshman underwent surgery the same day as his fall at the world-renowned University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in downtown Baltimore, no one knew what to expect, least of all Brooks.

When doctors gave him the grim diagnosis of paralysis, tears washed down Brooks' face.

“It was devastating,” Brooks said. “The only thing i could think of was basketball: When would I be able to play again? When would I be able to dribble again? When will I get back on my feet again?”

Everyone around Brooks struggled to make sense of why the life of a young man who waited for his mother at the bus stop and walked her home every day, a young man who had been texting Sanderson only an hour earlier, a young man who had become such a positive part of the Goucher community inside of months, was altered.

“You're looking at him and think he's go to be here for four years,” Trevino said. “There's just no way to prepare this.”

While fighting a pall of depression, Brooks began rehabilitation while learning to live a new normal that was most abnormal. He learned to breathe on his own, he worked with therapists to gain strength and dexterity in his arms, and he even underwent acupressure and Reiki during an extended stay at Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI) in Baltimore.

Before being discharged from KKI on Nov. 3, though Brooks saw just how much support and love he accumulated from longtime friends, family members, and the Division III basketball community.

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Alex Sanderson has stuck by Brooks' side through his injury, surgery and recovery. Photo by Gina Sanderson

In addition to on-campus efforts at Goucher, some funds from this weekend's Hoopsville Classic will help defray Brooks' considerable medical bills. On Nov. 26, after a suggestion from Johns Hopkins coach Bill Nelson to stage a benefit game, Goucher and Johns Hopkins will renew a dormant intracity rivalry that should fill the 1,200-seat Decker Sports & Recreation Center Arena, with ticket and bracelet sales benefiting Brooks in addition to several laptops being set up for those wishing to make larger donations.

Most importantly, Sanderson stayed right by his side, a sure sign of true love. She, her mother Gina — whom Brooks calls his second mom — and Brooks' mother, LaTre Zankli, rotate shifts to ensure he receives the best possible care.

“I'm not going to leave his side because he's injured. I'm not going to do that,” Sanderson said. “I really do care about him and I really do care about his well being, his mental health, his physical health.”

Since coming home, Brooks is doing at-home therapy before beginning outpatient rehabilitation at Kennedy Krieger Institute while enjoying the time spent with his mom, his second mom and the love of his life.

From having his world altered nearly seven months ago, he is seeing signs of progress. Although the odds defy hope of a complete recovery, no one who knows Damon Brooks is gambling against his chances of walking and leading a fast break again.

“I feel that. I do. I do. I really do,” Zankli said. “The doctors aren't gods. Only God knows. And I have faith. So does Damon.”

For those who wish to donate to Damon Brooks' Mid-Atlantic Spinal Cord Injury Fund, you can do so by logging on to https://www.helphopelive.org/contribute2/patient_results.cfm/patient/FE0B84F4-C845-2122-B07EA3093EFAF336. Updates on Brooks' recovery can be found at https://www.helphopelive.org/find-a-patient/profile/index.cfm/patient/FE0B84F4-C845-2122-B07EA3093EFAF336.

Hope senior guard Courtney Kust and her teammates will be bolstered by the return of some of last year's injured players. Hope athletics photo

Uncertainty for Hope women

Surely if you polled every men's and women's coach from coast to coast, they would tell you they have no idea what to expect from their teams until after they tip off a few times. When it comes to the No. 12 Hope women — the highest ranked squad not to make the Division III NCAA Tournament field last year, despite a 22-5 record — there is more uncertainty than usual for 17th-year coach Brian Morehouse.

Although 6-1 sophomores Hannah Doell (broken arm) and Liz Siepker (leg) are healthy after missing a combined 30 contests last season, the biggest question mark of all is 6-1 senior post player Meredith Kussmaul (10.1 points, 5.2 rebounds), who missed the final 17 games of the 2011-12 after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

“She just got cleared a couple of days ago, so we haven't seen anything out of her yet,” Morehouse said. “We're hoping that this week will give us a better look into what she can or can't do. In the week coming up, we'll find out if she can or can't play.”

Fortunately for Hope, the senior backcourt of Courtney Kust (10.9 points, 5.9 rebounds) and two-time reigning Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Year Liz Ellis (10.7 points) returns, while 6-1 sophomore Rebekah Llorens (9.0 points, 5.5 rebounds) and 6-1 senior Ashley Bauman (3.5 points, 4.0 rebounds) played solidly after Kussmaul went down last winter.

Meanwhile, the Flying Dutchmen figure to get immediate contributions from a pair of freshmen in 5-9 guard Autumn Anderson and 6-0 forward Maura McAfee when they open Friday night against Denison in the first round of the Hampton Inn/Damon Grill Tip-Off Tournament at Wilmington.

If Hope can escape Wilmington unscathed, Morehouse could win his 400th game next Tuesday at Defiance. Although it would be the latest accomplishment in a remarkable career that has included a 2006 national championship, the coach said he knew nothing of the impending milestone until we reminded him of it.

“Iit means a lot more to me to watch kids get jobs and watch kids graduate,” Morehouse said. “Certain wins and championships are great, but I much more value the relationships.”

Franklin and Marshall will have a distinctly different look this season without Georgio Milligan running the show at point guard. F&M athletics photo

Business as usual at F&M

Even with the departure of all-everything, do-everything guard Georgio Milligan — who recently signed a contract with the NBA's Developmental League — No. 9-ranked Franklin & Marshall still figures as the Centennial Conference frontrunner and a factor on the national stage.

Four starters and several key pieces from last season's Elite Eight run return, including Milligan's backup for three years at Don Bosco Prep (N.J.) and the past three seasons at F&M: 6-2 senior Max Brewer.

Just don't expect Brewer to try to replicate his predecessor.

“I'm just trying to do whatever the team needs. I don't look at it as trying to replace Georgio,” Brewer said. “We have so many guys that are talented; we have such a deep team.

“I'm not trying to go out and score 30 points like Georgio was doing. I'm just trying to get us in the offense, play efficiently — all the good things that contribute to winning basketball.”

Brewer finds himself in the same place he did four years ago at Garden State prep power Don Bosco Prep, running the show after Milligan graduated. However, he is more of the prototypical point guard — which will serve veteran coach Glenn Robinson and the Diplomats well, considering they return a cast that includes 6-7 senior Hayk Gyokchyan, a D3hoops.com Preseason Honorable Mention All-American.

While Brewer's 2011-12 totals (2.5 points, 1.7 minutes, 1.1 assists, 19.1 minutes) are modest, Robinson and Gyokchyan are quick to praise the senior floor leader's patience and consistency. When Robinson says Brewer played Milligan tougher in practice than very virtually any opponent he faces across his record-breaking four seasons at F&M, you know it is not lip service.

“He knows everything and he has a really good head for the game of basketball,” Robinson said. “Just having a point guard that has physical skills is nice, but not nearly enough. ... You need to have a point guard who has an understanding of time and score. And a feel for what other players like.”

Added Gyokchyan: “Max really knows the whole offense as good, if not better, than Georgio. ... Max knows every small thing in the off in terms of the matchups and whomever's hot. I'm very optimistic.”

Perhaps this best explains why Robinson, entering his 41st season as F&M's bench boss, exudes confidence even though he lost sophomore forward Xavier Braham and highly touted freshman guard Joe Krong to ACL tears before preseason began — this after saying, “I've only had three ACLs in 45 years (of coaching and here we have two in one season.”

Regardless, the Diplomats begin life with Brewer running the show this Friday at home against Penn State-Harrisburg.

“I really like the team,” Robinson said. “They're bright, they're working hard. I think we have the right pieces to put the puzzle together.”