When Towson University women's basketball coach Joe Mathews dropped a pop quiz on his players during a trip to New Mexico in December, only one got each of the team's 50 hand signals correct.
It was hardly a surprise the honor belonged to Alis Freeman, who is sometimes called "Coach Freeman" by teammates, and not always in jest.
"You go to her if you have a question about a play or anything," sophomore Kandace Davis said. "She knows everything."
Freeman, 22, has had plenty of time to learn. She's a rare fifth-year junior who will be a rare sixth-year senior if Mathews can coax her back next season. She has been a catalyst in his seven-year resuscitation program, a 5-foot-9 guard from Potomac whose game is played in dashes through the heart of opposing defenses.
That Freeman made it this far is testimony to her extraordinary pain threshold. She has had reconstructive surgery on both knees and a total of three knee operations since her freshman year at Winston Churchill High in Montgomery County.
In her Towson debut in 2003, she ripped everything in her right knee. Two years later, she landed awkwardly on her right leg, tearing more ligaments. Absent her two anterior cruciate ligaments, Freeman has a piece of her hamstring muscle implanted in her right knee and a patella tendon to cushion the left.
She will need more surgery after this season to clean out the right knee.
Still, Freeman perseveres. She wears a stocking sleeve on her right leg for support and gets treatment before and after playing. She also needed a cortisone shot in December. Out of necessity, Freeman's style of play has evolved.
"Before, my game used to be more driving and banging in the middle," she said. "But I'm turning into a jump shooter a little more now."
As the season turns for the homestretch, the pain is written on Freeman's face and in her limp. A two-time captain, she has Mathews' permission to skip a practice if she has too much discomfort.
Mathews says she plays with "reckless abandon to the rim," but has learned to adapt.
"She is a more cerebral player than before," he said. "I can't tell you how important she is to the team."
Here's how important: In the two seasons she missed, the Tigers went 9-19 twice. In the two years she played, they went 16-14 and 17-12. This season, Freeman has helped Towson (15-5, 7-2) move into a tie for second in the Colonial Athletic Association.
She leads the team in steals (2.6 per game), is second in assists (4.5) and averages 7.4 points. A natural point guard, Freeman moved to off guard to allow sophomore Shanae Baker-Brice to run the offense.
The question that begs to be answered is why she keeps coming back when it would have been reasonable to quit.
Freeman, who already has earned a degree in sports management and is working on another in criminal justice, says it's love of the game. Mathews thinks it's a little more.
When Towson was upset in the CAA tournament's first round last season, he remembers Freeman lying on the locker room floor, "crying uncontrollably."
"After that, I thought there was no way she was coming back," Mathews said. "I thought she felt she had done all she could. I was surprised she wanted to [play again]. It was her desire not to go out that way individually or with the team. I think she didn't want to leave until she made a major difference in the program and gets it where it's supposed to go."
Whether Freeman's college career ends this season or next, it will be tough for Mathews to see her leave. Among the things he'll miss are the "upper-level" basketball conversations they regularly have.
"The other part is how much she's given of herself, given to the program," Mathews said. "I'm forever grateful. She's what a role model should be. She's a joy to be around."
ken.murray@baltsun.com