Well, I talked to NU superback commit Hunter Welcing this afternoon and got the scoop on his ACL tear. He doesn't want me to write a story about it, but I think it's okay to post it here, on the friendly confines of The Rock.
Hunter tore his ACL during a 7-on-7 tournament on March 30. He was running and in route and knew something was wrong immediately. The MRI confirmed the worst. He has surgery scheduled for April 19.
He said that if his knee "cooperates", his goal is to come back and play this season for Lake Zurich. I asked if it would be better to take a year off to get ready for 2020 at NU, and he said that his dream is to help the Bears win the state title this year in any role he can. (They were state runners up in Class 7A last season.) I don't know how realistic returning next season is or how Fitz & Co. would feel about that. But he added, "That all being said, I will not jeopardize my collegiate career."
Hunter does feel fortunate that he committed when he did, and that he committed to NU. As you'd expect, NU is sticking by him and will honor the scholarship.
"Even though this is unfortunate it has shown me how great the coaching staff is and only makes me feel better about committing where I did," he said.
Hunter tore his ACL during a 7-on-7 tournament on March 30. He was running and in route and knew something was wrong immediately. The MRI confirmed the worst. He has surgery scheduled for April 19.
He said that if his knee "cooperates", his goal is to come back and play this season for Lake Zurich. I asked if it would be better to take a year off to get ready for 2020 at NU, and he said that his dream is to help the Bears win the state title this year in any role he can. (They were state runners up in Class 7A last season.) I don't know how realistic returning next season is or how Fitz & Co. would feel about that. But he added, "That all being said, I will not jeopardize my collegiate career."
Hunter does feel fortunate that he committed when he did, and that he committed to NU. As you'd expect, NU is sticking by him and will honor the scholarship.
"Even though this is unfortunate it has shown me how great the coaching staff is and only makes me feel better about committing where I did," he said.
