Dreckman

When Daviney Dreckman stepped onto the court for the University of Jamestown women’s basketball team on Nov. 14 in a nonconference game against Dickinson State, it marked 22 months since Dreckman, a redshirt freshman from New Ulm High School, had played a competitive basketball.

Dreckman, who scored 1,301 career points for the Eagles, suffered a torn ACL early in December of her senior season and had surgery.

But she had to have it done twice with three different surgeries over her basketball career.

“I had ACL surgery my freshman year in high school, and it was tough, but it was harder the second time [her senior season,” said Dreckman. “Because I had already been through it and I was older that second time so it was going to he harder no matter what.”

But it became even harder after her second ACL operation.

“They were not able to repair my graft yet,” Dreckman said. “They had to do a bone graft and I had to wait eight months for my bone to heal, and then they went back in seven months to do another whole surgery and reconstruct my ACL.”

Dreckman said that her freshman year she was at Jamestown for two weeks, but had to come back to New Ulm for two weeks.

“Then they had to take my patellar tendon from my other knee because they already used it the first time. So I was in double braces — I give my mom and dad a huge thanks, my mom took about two weeks off of work and my grandfather came and sat with me. I had a lot of people taking care of me because I could not do it myself.”

Dreckman said that the physical therapy was very hard.

“But the most challenging thing was getting my confidence back — being able to run and cut and jump. People say that after surgery that you never play the same and you are always hesitant, but I knew that I was going to be able to deal with it physically because I am a strong person — I knew that I would be able to come back and play if I lifted every day and doing my therapy.”

But she was worried about coming back tentative on the court.

“They say that if you come back tentative, your chances of re-tearing are higher. So my big focus was coming back and not being scared.”

Dreckman, who scored 7 points in her return to the sport that she loves, said that the rehab and hard work that was needed was something else.

“I have never experienced something like that,” she said. “I stayed and worked up in Jamestown this past summer and I had access to the gym and the weight room.”

Dreckman said that in the season where she could not play for Jamestown because of the injury, she was working on rehabbing.

“We were in Montana every weekend, but that did not mean that I was taking breaks,” she said. “I usually got up before the team and did my rehab in the workout rooms in the hotel. Going through this twice is something that I do not wish on anybody, but you see who you are as a person and you do not take anything for granted.”

Dreckman said that the season has been going well for her team.

“We are in a new conference this year — we are in the NSIC [Northern Sun Inercollegiate Confence] which is DII and we have a lot more competition,” she said. “It is so much fun and we are competing and I am healthy”

Dreckman said that first game back playing in a scrimmage basketball game was emotional.

“We had a scrimmage against Mayville State, so that was my first time playing a different team and the sense of accomplishment and gratitude was very emotional — my coaches up here believed in me.”

But most importantly, Dreckman, who is starting as a guard, believed in herself.

The week of Dec. 5, Dreckman was named the RN Stoudt Athlete of the Week as she scored 15 points and had five rebounds in the Jimmies’ 65-48 win over Northern State in an NSIC game.