Eric Katenda, a recruit heading to Notre Dame on a basketball scholarship, found out the dangers of participating in pickup games. Katenda was slotted to be one of the best power forward prospects heading into the 2011-12 college basketball season, but an injury he suffered to his eye could put his future in sports in jeopardy.
According to ESPN, Katenda suffered a severe eye injury during a pickup game that has put his basketball career at risk. It turns out that he was participating in a pickup game before he completed his enrollment at Notre Dame when the injury occurred. The prognosis was that an optic nerve was severed by the force of another player's finger, leaving him partially blind. The worst part of the injury is that there isn't anything that can be done to fix what happened.
This is a really unfortunate twist of fate for this kid, and it shows how simply having fun on the basketball court can lead to freak injuries that will affect players off the court. He was going to be a huge part of the Notre Dame basketball program next season, especially when forward Carleton Scott decided he was heading to the NBA. Now Katenda will have to prove that he can still exhibit the skills on the court that made him one of the best players in his class.
At this point, the NCAA has still not even cleared Katenda to play basketball for Notre Dame, making the situation even more complicated. There is a slight silver-lining with this case though, and it is how Notre Dame really stepped up to honor its commitment to Katenda. More concerned with his well-being than their number of scholarship players, Coach Mike Brey has already guaranteed that Katenda will be attending Notre Dame on a scholarship. That's a great move by the institution, and it gives this kid one less thing to worry about as he tries to adjust to his new life.
Last season the Notre Dame Fighting Irish finished 27-7 and lost in the third round of the NCAA Tournament to Florida State. The team had gone 14-4 in the Big East Conference during the regular season; good enough for second place in the final standings. It was definitely a resurgent year for the basketball team, and it made the upcoming year look even brighter. In addition to Katenda joining the team, highly rated small forward Pat Connaughton is also coming into the fold.




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