An All-County selection each of her first two seasons, Winters Mill guard Jordan Neville was well on her way to an outstanding high school basketball career when a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee during the Falcons' 2006 opener ended her junior season practically before it started.
The injury was a devastating blow, both emotionally and in terms of college recruiting. In many ways, however, it also made her a stronger player and person.
These days, the senior is helping to lead the unbeaten Falcons, who are among the favorites to capture a Class 2A championship. The experience helped Neville develop into perhaps the top overall shooter in Carroll County, and also made her appreciate every second on the court.
You missed virtually all of last season with a knee injury. Do you remember much about how it happened?
It was the first game of the season in the first three minutes. I was going up for a lay-up and saw my friend Olivia [Fajardo]. I went to dish it to her, and I went one way and my knee went the other.
What's going through your head at that point?
Life isn't fair. That's basically what was going through my head that whole time. I had spent so much time ... so much work all summer long. I mean, I was shooting 500 shots a day practicing. I wanted that season so bad. I was playing at a top level. I had been running, lifting. ... I was ready. And so for it to just slip away so easily was really devastating.
Did you have surgery right away?
Yeah, 20 days later maybe. They got me in and out of there, trying to get surgery as soon as we could to get me back as soon as we could.
How long was the rehabilitation process?
The rehab process was about 5½ months. I would go whenever they would let me in, and I would do whatever. I mean, the guy wouldn't let me unlock my brace because he was scared I was going to do too much. That was definitely a hard process. I had to use a lot of patience, which was difficult for me. Doing stuff like just bending my knee ... everyone was supposed to clap ... "Yea." ... and that's not me.
Was there ever a point when you doubted whether you'd ever be able to come back to basketball?
Yeah, there were nights when I'd be very emotional about it. My mom and dad were always there for me. When you finally get released, you think, "OK, that's it, I'm done," and that's not the reality of it. You've still got to come back. My mile time was so much slower, I was a slower player, and mentally I still wasn't there yet, and you don't even realize that until you play your first game again. With [Amateur Athletic Union], you're supposed to play three games in a row, and that's really difficult to do when you're just coming back.
Do you feel the whole experience has changed you as a player?
I definitely, from the experience, developed a shot, more than I had before, because that's all I could do for a while. I shot all the time. I was on crutches and my mom was rebounding for me. I can shoot threes now, which probably was my weakest point before. My mid-range is also so much better, and now I have the highest shooting percentage in Carroll County. I still feel I have room and potential to grow, but I definitely think that I've changed the way I look at the game.
Every second on the floor means everything to me. It just changes how you view everything. Like before, you'd be like, "Ugh, practice. Just get it over with." Now you're driving to practice and pumping your music up, because it's like, "Woo-hoo, I'm going to practice." When I was little, a girl who tore her ACL -- a coach -- told me once to never take the game for granted. You really can't respect those words until you tear your ACL. Now that I've experienced that, I completely agree with that 100 percent.
While you were rehabbing, did you still go to the games?
I went to all the games and I started out going to all the practices, but that was just too hard. And with rehab, I needed as much time as I could to mentally and physically get back.
It had to be just tortuous for you to sit there during games and not be able to do anything.
Oh my God, you don't even understand. The first game was against our rivals, Westminster. I remember just sitting there. There are so many things you want to be able to do, and you find yourself almost like an assistant coach. You're pointing at things and screaming and trying to stay involved. It's almost sad to say, but at the beginning, your team is still there for you and supporting you. But you kind of fall out of it as games go by, because they're focusing on their season and you're just a girl sitting there. It's demoralizing.
Colleges usually focus most closely on your junior season during the recruiting process. How do you think not having that season has affected things in that regard?
Before my injury, I had at least 20 Division I schools looking at me seriously. You realize how unimportant you are in the recruiting process after you get seriously injured. You go from getting letters every day and calls all the time to falling off the face of the earth. Suddenly, you're the one fighting just to get an e-mail back. At first it was shocking and really hard to take. The timing was so bad, for it to happen right there during my junior year when everyone is starting to really decide where they're going.
Right now I'm talking to a couple smaller Division I schools, but I learned from this that you really have to focus on your career [outside of sports] so that you're successful in life. So a Division III school is not devastating ... it's not heartbreaking. I want to be an art major, so my options have opened up as viewing a Division III school as something other than a failure. I visited Drew [University] this past weekend and really loved it. They have a huge art program and it's right near New York City, so that's an option. But Mount St. Mary's has been talking to me lately; Fairleigh Dickinson has just recently contacted me. I definitely have options, but just not nearly to the extent that I did. I mean, I had East Carolina, Maryland, Drexel ... I had so many options. I was sitting back and took for granted how lucky I was to have all that.
You finally were able to come back at the beginning of this season, and were joined by another standout guard in Cassie Cooke, who transferred to Winters Mill from Westminster. How is the team different now than it was last season?
Cassie brings so much to the team that we didn't have before. We lost Olivia, who was a dominant post player, and I would have loved to play with her last year. But Cassie brings a whole new twist to the team. She brings a new energy. I mean this girl is crazy energy. This would be the first year in my high school career that I've played with someone who can see people [on the court] like I can. That unselfishness is so refreshing. For someone to create for me for once ... it definitely clicks ... it works.
Now your team has three prominent scorers in you, Cassie and Jen Peters. How much does it help to have those other two take some of the defensive focus off you?
In the games where it's close, people step up. You can't guard me, Cassie and Jen Peters if you can't tell which of us is going to have a big game that night.
Tell us about your older brother, George, was the Carroll County Players of the Year for Winters Mill in 2005, and is now a junior forward at Guilford College.
I always wanted to grow up and be like my brother. He was definitely my role model growing up. He was a hard worker and he's one of the most fundamental players I've ever met in my entire life.
The injury was a devastating blow, both emotionally and in terms of college recruiting. In many ways, however, it also made her a stronger player and person.
These days, the senior is helping to lead the unbeaten Falcons, who are among the favorites to capture a Class 2A championship. The experience helped Neville develop into perhaps the top overall shooter in Carroll County, and also made her appreciate every second on the court.
You missed virtually all of last season with a knee injury. Do you remember much about how it happened?
It was the first game of the season in the first three minutes. I was going up for a lay-up and saw my friend Olivia [Fajardo]. I went to dish it to her, and I went one way and my knee went the other.
What's going through your head at that point?
Life isn't fair. That's basically what was going through my head that whole time. I had spent so much time ... so much work all summer long. I mean, I was shooting 500 shots a day practicing. I wanted that season so bad. I was playing at a top level. I had been running, lifting. ... I was ready. And so for it to just slip away so easily was really devastating.
Did you have surgery right away?
Yeah, 20 days later maybe. They got me in and out of there, trying to get surgery as soon as we could to get me back as soon as we could.
How long was the rehabilitation process?
The rehab process was about 5½ months. I would go whenever they would let me in, and I would do whatever. I mean, the guy wouldn't let me unlock my brace because he was scared I was going to do too much. That was definitely a hard process. I had to use a lot of patience, which was difficult for me. Doing stuff like just bending my knee ... everyone was supposed to clap ... "Yea." ... and that's not me.
Was there ever a point when you doubted whether you'd ever be able to come back to basketball?
Yeah, there were nights when I'd be very emotional about it. My mom and dad were always there for me. When you finally get released, you think, "OK, that's it, I'm done," and that's not the reality of it. You've still got to come back. My mile time was so much slower, I was a slower player, and mentally I still wasn't there yet, and you don't even realize that until you play your first game again. With [Amateur Athletic Union], you're supposed to play three games in a row, and that's really difficult to do when you're just coming back.
Do you feel the whole experience has changed you as a player?
I definitely, from the experience, developed a shot, more than I had before, because that's all I could do for a while. I shot all the time. I was on crutches and my mom was rebounding for me. I can shoot threes now, which probably was my weakest point before. My mid-range is also so much better, and now I have the highest shooting percentage in Carroll County. I still feel I have room and potential to grow, but I definitely think that I've changed the way I look at the game.
Every second on the floor means everything to me. It just changes how you view everything. Like before, you'd be like, "Ugh, practice. Just get it over with." Now you're driving to practice and pumping your music up, because it's like, "Woo-hoo, I'm going to practice." When I was little, a girl who tore her ACL -- a coach -- told me once to never take the game for granted. You really can't respect those words until you tear your ACL. Now that I've experienced that, I completely agree with that 100 percent.
While you were rehabbing, did you still go to the games?
I went to all the games and I started out going to all the practices, but that was just too hard. And with rehab, I needed as much time as I could to mentally and physically get back.
It had to be just tortuous for you to sit there during games and not be able to do anything.
Oh my God, you don't even understand. The first game was against our rivals, Westminster. I remember just sitting there. There are so many things you want to be able to do, and you find yourself almost like an assistant coach. You're pointing at things and screaming and trying to stay involved. It's almost sad to say, but at the beginning, your team is still there for you and supporting you. But you kind of fall out of it as games go by, because they're focusing on their season and you're just a girl sitting there. It's demoralizing.
Colleges usually focus most closely on your junior season during the recruiting process. How do you think not having that season has affected things in that regard?
Before my injury, I had at least 20 Division I schools looking at me seriously. You realize how unimportant you are in the recruiting process after you get seriously injured. You go from getting letters every day and calls all the time to falling off the face of the earth. Suddenly, you're the one fighting just to get an e-mail back. At first it was shocking and really hard to take. The timing was so bad, for it to happen right there during my junior year when everyone is starting to really decide where they're going.
Right now I'm talking to a couple smaller Division I schools, but I learned from this that you really have to focus on your career [outside of sports] so that you're successful in life. So a Division III school is not devastating ... it's not heartbreaking. I want to be an art major, so my options have opened up as viewing a Division III school as something other than a failure. I visited Drew [University] this past weekend and really loved it. They have a huge art program and it's right near New York City, so that's an option. But Mount St. Mary's has been talking to me lately; Fairleigh Dickinson has just recently contacted me. I definitely have options, but just not nearly to the extent that I did. I mean, I had East Carolina, Maryland, Drexel ... I had so many options. I was sitting back and took for granted how lucky I was to have all that.
You finally were able to come back at the beginning of this season, and were joined by another standout guard in Cassie Cooke, who transferred to Winters Mill from Westminster. How is the team different now than it was last season?
Cassie brings so much to the team that we didn't have before. We lost Olivia, who was a dominant post player, and I would have loved to play with her last year. But Cassie brings a whole new twist to the team. She brings a new energy. I mean this girl is crazy energy. This would be the first year in my high school career that I've played with someone who can see people [on the court] like I can. That unselfishness is so refreshing. For someone to create for me for once ... it definitely clicks ... it works.
Now your team has three prominent scorers in you, Cassie and Jen Peters. How much does it help to have those other two take some of the defensive focus off you?
In the games where it's close, people step up. You can't guard me, Cassie and Jen Peters if you can't tell which of us is going to have a big game that night.
Tell us about your older brother, George, was the Carroll County Players of the Year for Winters Mill in 2005, and is now a junior forward at Guilford College.
I always wanted to grow up and be like my brother. He was definitely my role model growing up. He was a hard worker and he's one of the most fundamental players I've ever met in my entire life.