A tall order: Mellen nearly back from second knee surgery
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Someday, Jocelyn Mellen hopes to stop having to answer questions about her knees.
The 2006 Newman High School graduate and three-time Sauk Valley Newspapers basketball player of the year has had queries about one knee or the other since tumbling to the Newman floor in January 2006.
She tore her anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee that night.
Just shy of three years later, she fell to the floor as a member of the Marquette women’s basketball team in November 2008 with a torn left ACL.
“I think I should be bionic by now,” Mellen said over the phone on Tuesday night. “I’ve had my fill of problems and now I shouldn’t have to worry anymore about it.”
“I’ve been through a lot of rehab. It’s just a slow process and you can’t rush back or you risk more problems.”
Mellen had surgery on Jan. 5 of this year. It’s been months of rehab since and slowly she’s starting to round back into shape.
“I’ve been able to do the team workouts and conditioning for awhile now,” Mellen said. “I just haven’t been able to scrimmage.”
Over the last month, Mellen has been cleared to play one-on-one games, but nothing else on the court.
“I don’t really know what the difference is, I guess just not having as many bodies flying around,” Mellen said. “I’ll probably be totally cleared to play when school starts.”
The process of recovery is something that Mellen understands better this time than her during first go-round with a severe injury.
“I know the ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ better, and that’s made it a little faster recovery,” Mellen said. “Otherwise, it’s hard to compare. Last time, I had my knee scoped twice, this time not at all.
“I feel comfortable out there now. I know the first time I am out there in a scrimmage, I’ll be more hesitant. I know from last time that it takes getting knocked down once to realize that you can handle it out there.”
Mellen redshirted her freshman season. During her sophomore year, she played key minutes in leading Marquette to the 2008 WNIT championship.
If all goes well, Mellen will assume an important leadership role for the Golden Eagles for the 2009-10 season.
“At the beginning of the summer, every player sits down with the coaches and they go over the roles they expect of them the next year,” Mellen said. “This is my fourth year up here, so they expect me to be a leader. I’ve been through a lot and can help the younger girls handle playing here.”
Mellen has two more seasons of eligibility. She plans to graduate this school year and then continue her education in graduate school at Marquette.
She will focus on speech pathology in graduate school with hopes of eventually working in a school system. She also wants to coach.
“I don’t want to coach at the high school level,” Mellen said. “I want younger kids that you can mold more and where you are just teaching them the game.”
Mellen file
Born: 1.1.1988
Parents: Paul and Deb Mellen
High School: Newman (2006)
College: Marquette
High school achievements: Three-time SVN basketball player of the year. ... Averaged 19.2 points and 11.9 rebounds her senior season. ... Class A All-State first team in 2006. ... Led Newman to fourth place in Class A in 2005.
College: Redshirted her freshman year while rehabbing from right ACL surgery. ... Played in 35 games as a redshirt freshman in 2007-08, starting 9. ... Scored 12 points in 2008 WNIT championship win. ... Tore left ACL 5 games into 2008-2009 season. ... Has 2 more years of eligibility.
