Elon women’s basketball guards Kamryn Doty and Raven Preston sat on the Elon bench for a full season, recovering from injury. They watched their teammates score 3-pointers, run across the court and imagined the day they could come back to contribute to the team. After a season of healing, the time for a comeback is here.
They return to the basketball court after both suffering season-ending injuries last year and wish to keep the specifics of those injuries private. The experience has helped them grow as a power duo as they prepared to come back to play this women’s basketball season.
Doty, a redshirt junior, did not play her freshman year 2021-22 season due to a torn ACL, according to previous Elon News Network coverage. She did not play last season due to a second season-ending injury, where her focus was to practice patience over urgency to come back to the game.
“I had a lot of negative emotions to begin with, but I soon realized that the negative emotions weren't going to get me anywhere,” Doty said. “My mindset was just to get into the rehab process, do what I can and contribute how I'm able to contribute to the team – whether it's just giving energy or being a resource for them.”
The drive to play for Doty was hindered as this was her second time experiencing the “same injury,” she said. The process was more steady-paced for Doty this time around, as she said she focused on bettering herself during the recovery process.
“The biggest thing for me was finding a balance between when I can get extra practice or physical activity, or when I should just sit down and let my body recover,” Doty said. “I've just gotten more mature, instead of wanting to go hard all the time. I'm really big on listening to my body now.”
When Preston got hurt, she turned to her spirituality to positively stay connected to basketball. Being off the court allowed her to look at the game from a new angle, something she said has improved her as a player for the Phoenix.
“I have my own plans for my life, but God has a completely different process and plan for me,” Preston said. “I haven't really got experience in helping the team out other than being on the court. Being the biggest cheerleader and seeing the game from a completely different lens was big. It helped a lot by getting through the process and coming back.”
As student-athletes, both Doty and Preston said they believe players may forget to take time for themselves when the game is always on their minds. During their time away from basketball, they realized the importance of taking care of themselves.
“When you're too consumed, you forget about other things or your other responsibilities,” Doty said. “You forget to take care of yourselves. You forget to check up on family. There's so much else but so many things outside of basketball that I realized are just as important — if not more important — than basketball.”
Both players were put on different schedules during rehabilitation than those who were competing to focus on recovery and maintaining physical fitness in areas that they were cleared to work on. Doty said without Preston, coming back to the game alone would have been more difficult.
“Being in it together helped a lot,” Doty said. “We'd be in the training room together. We lived together. We had our own separate lists outside of the team. When they would play, we would go in the morning — the day before the game — and lift.”
The women’s basketball team has already seen wins this season with Doty and Preston back. The team currently has a 3-1 winning record, scoring a total of 257 points so far this season. Preston said she believes all the new skills and perspectives help the team look at the game differently as a whole.
“We're all just really hungry while being out,” Preston said. “You see things at such a different perspective. I probably wouldn't have known half the stuff that I know now if I didn't sit out. I'm actually pretty grateful.”
As the season is underway, both Doty and Preston have contributed to the team’s score in the games they have played. Preston is averaging 13.5 points per game with a team-high of 10.5 rebounds per game. Doty has scored 4 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. However, they said a player’s health is the top priority for a successful season.
“It's really not worth it having to sit out for a couple days rather than if it hurts – then you hurt it even more – having to sit out for an entire year,” Doty said. “At the end of the day, we're very strong whenever we're healthy.”