Trip to visit wounded troops helps Augustus

WASHINGTON — Seimone Augustus hasn’t been able to play at the U.S. women’s basketball training camp while she rehabilitates her injured left knee.

She’s been cheering from the sideline and working on her rehab, but misses being on the court with her teammates. Still, the camp hasn’t been a total loss for the Minnesota Lynx guard.

A post practice trip by the national team to Walter Reed hospital to visit wounded soldiers really helped put her ACL injury in perspective.

“Going through my rehab and stuff like that, I’ve been feeling down on myself and depressed and I shouldn’t,” Augustus said. “They’ve been through worse things than me and they’re calm.”

There was one soldier whom she met who was fortunate to be alive. He had an injured spine and neck and was wounded when a bomb went off underneath his vehicle. Right as the bomb went off, the soldier remembered to push away from his gun so as not to be further hurt. He told her how many soldiers are hurt worse when they bang their heads into their guns after a bomb goes off.

Some of his fellow soldiers in the vehicle weren’t so lucky.

“Just to know this guy was almost killed and he’s here talking to us and happy to see us is a special thing,” Augustus said. “These guys go out and risk their lives every day and not know if they’re going to come back home alive or not. To hear about their experiences is a motivational factor for me.”

Augustus tore her ACL on June 17 in Phoenix, ending her fourth season. After helping the U.S. win a gold medal at the Olympics last year, she was off to a strong start in her first six games, scoring 21.0 points and leading the team to a 5-1 record.

“It was such a blow to us when she went down, but she’s been so positive working out to get healthy again,” said U.S. assistant coach Jennifer Gillom, who also is the coach of the Lynx.

USA Basketball has been working a lot with the military since coach Mike Krzyzewski took over the men’s national team in 2006. “Hoops for Troops” was Krzyzewski’s idea to help give something back. The graduate of West Point has had the men’s team practice at military bases and invited troops to come to see them play.

After visiting the hospital on Thursday, Augustus and the other players put on a clinic at the hospital for the military families on Saturday after holding an open practice. About 200 people showed up for the practice and 40 kids ranging from age 3 to 14 participated in the clinic, which was led by U.S. assistant coach Doug Bruno.

After going through a series of drills with the kids, the DePaul coach asked them if they had heard of Mae Jemison. When none of the kids knew who she was, Bruno explained how she was the first African-American woman in space. He then called up three kids and asked them again who she was. They repeated his answer and he gave them each $2 telling them “it pays to be smart,” which drew huge laughter from the assembled crowd.