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DeShazer bids farewell to injury-plagued Lady Griz Career
Story by Amber Kuehn | Mar. 8, 2007
Montana Kaimin
On her knees you will find scars. Scars from surgeries that left her on the sideline, injuries that prevented her from playing the game she loves so much. On her left shoulder, you will find a tattoo in memory of the best friend she lost in a car crash. In family photo albums, you will find pictures of her brother who has suffered from cancer.
And yet on her face you will find a smile.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said “fractures well cured make us more strong.” If this is true, Lady Griz basketball player Jackie DeShazer should be stronger than most. The 5-foot-7 guard from Libby has seen more hardship in the past five years than many people see in their lifetimes.
“It definitely has been a roller coaster ride,” she said.
DeShazer was recognized at last Thursday’s senior night, saying goodbye to the home crowd she adores and putting the past behind her. A senior in school but a junior on the roster, DeShazer is leaving the game she’s played since fourth grade. She’ll take with her the memories, and her body will leave little reminders that sometimes playing sports comes with a price.
Her freshman year was a positive one. DeShazer was excited to be playing basketball for a Division I school, and loved the feeling she got when she stepped out on the court at Dahlberg Arena for the first time. She was the best free-throw shooter on the team, shooting more than 80 percent from the charity stripe.
“I was pretty excited,” DeShazer said. “I got kind of sick for a little bit, but that was the only bump in the road my freshman year.”
She was part of the 2003-2004 team that nearly won an NCAA Tournament game against Louisiana Tech in Missoula. Little did she know, that game would be the last she’d play in for a while.
A week before practice began her sophomore season, DeShazer suffered a setback – the first of many injuries she would endure throughout her college career. She had surgery on her ACL, and was out for the rest of the year.
“That was so frustrating,” DeShazer said.
Not as frustrating as what January would bring. That month, her brother Doug was diagnosed with leukemia. For DeShazer, that meant many trips to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, and not a lot of time to worry about basketball.
“The team was awesome, so were the coaches, about supporting me,” she said. “For weeks at a time, I would just leave school.”
Her junior year, Doug was in Missoula for treatment, and he lived with DeShazer and her roommates. Today, he is in remission at age 26.
The summer before her junior season began, DeShazer dislocated her patella.
“It’s kind of an odd injury,” she said. “The knee cap wouldn’t stay in place because my ligaments weren’t tight enough.”
So, a second surgery on her right knee, and once again, no basketball.
This season started out well for DeShazer. She saw action in her first nine games and said it felt great to be back in the game.
“I felt good, and I felt strong,” she said. “It was like being a freshman all over again … it was good to be back on the court.”
But during a practice in mid-January, DeShazer came down wrong. As she was coming down the court for a fast break, her right knee once again failed her, this time on a routine jump stop.
“I heard it pop, and I thought ‘oh crap,’” she said.
Locked meniscus. Another surgery. Basketball cut short.
She’s had five total surgeries: in college, one on her left knee, three on her right; in high school, ankle surgery.
“It’s been rough,” DeShazer said. “It’s not exactly what you want out of a basketball career.”
She said the coaches and teammates were supportive, and good about making her still feel like a part of the team.
“You’re not practicing, so you don’t feel like you’re contributing much, and you’re not on the court,” she said. “It’s frustrating, but if you want to get back, you just have to rehab and get out there. There’s really no other way to handle it.”
DeShazer handles the injuries well. They are, after all, not the life-threatening disease that plagued her brother. They also aren’t the toughest things DeShazer has had to cope with.
Jennica Snyder was not only a fellow teammate on the Libby High basketball team, she was also one of DeShazer’s best friends.
“There were three of us,” DeShazer said. “We were always called the ‘Three Amigas’ or the ‘Three Musketeers.’ We were really close, almost more like sisters.”
But during their senior year of high school, a car crash took Snyder’s life. Today, DeShazer and four other friends have tattoos to remember her. A symbol that intertwines her initials with the number 20, the jersey number she wore in both softball and basketball.
“It’s kind of like a memorial to Jennica,” DeShazer said.
With the blows dealt to her brother and her friend, DeShazer is able to put her injuries in perspective.
“Things like that make you realize how important some things are,” she said. “It’s a horrible way to get those life experiences, and if I could change either of them I probably would. But you need to get those experiences and it’s good if you can get them at a young age.
“All those little petty things we buy into, they’re not that big of a deal.”
It’s that attitude and determination that her teammates admire her for. Senior Sara Gale said it’s been difficult to watch DeShazer go through all of the injuries.
“I don’t know if I would have come back from as many injuries as she’s come back from,” Gale said. “I only had one, and it was a pain in the butt. I just think it’d be heartbreaking and so worrisome to step back on the court not knowing if it’s going to happen again.”
Her teammates respect her decision to cut her basketball career short a season early. Rehab is a rough road, a road that DeShazer has already been down too many times.
“I understand why she’s doing what she’s choosing to do,” Gale said. “To overcome as many injuries as she has … it’s amazing.”
Story by Amber Kuehn | Mar. 8, 2007
Montana Kaimin
On her knees you will find scars. Scars from surgeries that left her on the sideline, injuries that prevented her from playing the game she loves so much. On her left shoulder, you will find a tattoo in memory of the best friend she lost in a car crash. In family photo albums, you will find pictures of her brother who has suffered from cancer.
And yet on her face you will find a smile.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said “fractures well cured make us more strong.” If this is true, Lady Griz basketball player Jackie DeShazer should be stronger than most. The 5-foot-7 guard from Libby has seen more hardship in the past five years than many people see in their lifetimes.
“It definitely has been a roller coaster ride,” she said.
DeShazer was recognized at last Thursday’s senior night, saying goodbye to the home crowd she adores and putting the past behind her. A senior in school but a junior on the roster, DeShazer is leaving the game she’s played since fourth grade. She’ll take with her the memories, and her body will leave little reminders that sometimes playing sports comes with a price.
Her freshman year was a positive one. DeShazer was excited to be playing basketball for a Division I school, and loved the feeling she got when she stepped out on the court at Dahlberg Arena for the first time. She was the best free-throw shooter on the team, shooting more than 80 percent from the charity stripe.
“I was pretty excited,” DeShazer said. “I got kind of sick for a little bit, but that was the only bump in the road my freshman year.”
She was part of the 2003-2004 team that nearly won an NCAA Tournament game against Louisiana Tech in Missoula. Little did she know, that game would be the last she’d play in for a while.
A week before practice began her sophomore season, DeShazer suffered a setback – the first of many injuries she would endure throughout her college career. She had surgery on her ACL, and was out for the rest of the year.
“That was so frustrating,” DeShazer said.
Not as frustrating as what January would bring. That month, her brother Doug was diagnosed with leukemia. For DeShazer, that meant many trips to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, and not a lot of time to worry about basketball.
“The team was awesome, so were the coaches, about supporting me,” she said. “For weeks at a time, I would just leave school.”
Her junior year, Doug was in Missoula for treatment, and he lived with DeShazer and her roommates. Today, he is in remission at age 26.
The summer before her junior season began, DeShazer dislocated her patella.
“It’s kind of an odd injury,” she said. “The knee cap wouldn’t stay in place because my ligaments weren’t tight enough.”
So, a second surgery on her right knee, and once again, no basketball.
This season started out well for DeShazer. She saw action in her first nine games and said it felt great to be back in the game.
“I felt good, and I felt strong,” she said. “It was like being a freshman all over again … it was good to be back on the court.”
But during a practice in mid-January, DeShazer came down wrong. As she was coming down the court for a fast break, her right knee once again failed her, this time on a routine jump stop.
“I heard it pop, and I thought ‘oh crap,’” she said.
Locked meniscus. Another surgery. Basketball cut short.
She’s had five total surgeries: in college, one on her left knee, three on her right; in high school, ankle surgery.
“It’s been rough,” DeShazer said. “It’s not exactly what you want out of a basketball career.”
She said the coaches and teammates were supportive, and good about making her still feel like a part of the team.
“You’re not practicing, so you don’t feel like you’re contributing much, and you’re not on the court,” she said. “It’s frustrating, but if you want to get back, you just have to rehab and get out there. There’s really no other way to handle it.”
DeShazer handles the injuries well. They are, after all, not the life-threatening disease that plagued her brother. They also aren’t the toughest things DeShazer has had to cope with.
Jennica Snyder was not only a fellow teammate on the Libby High basketball team, she was also one of DeShazer’s best friends.
“There were three of us,” DeShazer said. “We were always called the ‘Three Amigas’ or the ‘Three Musketeers.’ We were really close, almost more like sisters.”
But during their senior year of high school, a car crash took Snyder’s life. Today, DeShazer and four other friends have tattoos to remember her. A symbol that intertwines her initials with the number 20, the jersey number she wore in both softball and basketball.
“It’s kind of like a memorial to Jennica,” DeShazer said.
With the blows dealt to her brother and her friend, DeShazer is able to put her injuries in perspective.
“Things like that make you realize how important some things are,” she said. “It’s a horrible way to get those life experiences, and if I could change either of them I probably would. But you need to get those experiences and it’s good if you can get them at a young age.
“All those little petty things we buy into, they’re not that big of a deal.”
It’s that attitude and determination that her teammates admire her for. Senior Sara Gale said it’s been difficult to watch DeShazer go through all of the injuries.
“I don’t know if I would have come back from as many injuries as she’s come back from,” Gale said. “I only had one, and it was a pain in the butt. I just think it’d be heartbreaking and so worrisome to step back on the court not knowing if it’s going to happen again.”
Her teammates respect her decision to cut her basketball career short a season early. Rehab is a rough road, a road that DeShazer has already been down too many times.
“I understand why she’s doing what she’s choosing to do,” Gale said. “To overcome as many injuries as she has … it’s amazing.”
