The feel-good story of college basketball continues with the most recent news that:
A) Kevin Ware is out of a cast and able to stand on his own two feet.
B) He's actually already casually shooting hoops. Jump shots, in fact.
The former was announced by Ware on his Twitter account over the weekend, the latter was reported by WDRB.com's Eric Crawford. Ware broke his right tibia in Louisville's Elite Eight win over Duke on March 31. He was in a cast for eight weeks but is now taking the next big step in recovery.
That's right. Jump shots. They weren't the high-flying variety he showed in his emergence as a major part of U of L's national championship team late in the season, but they were shots with a little bit of bounce. ... Ware can't yet do much running or cutting. But trainer Fred Hina has challenged Ware to push his healing broken leg as much as he can in rehab.
Ware, who has been largely out of the public spotlight since attending the White House Correspondents' Dinner, still has a very long way to go. Who knows not only when his leg will be fully healed but when Ware will have all the physical strength and the mental comfort to play basketball at the highest level again.
Will it be next season? He has said that's in the plan; doctors have noted full recovery can take six months. We still don't know if that means he'll be truly ready in November for Louisville, or if it might take a bit longer than that. But already getting on the court and putting up a few light jump shots is a very positive sign.
