Knee injury won't keep Mundelein's Knar from contributing
Toni Knar blew out her knee, but she didn't blow her basketball scholarship.
Mundelein's hard-nosed senior guard signed a letter of intent with Missouri University of Science and Technology on Wednesday, less than two weeks after suffering a knee injury that will sideline her the entire 2009-10 season.
Knar has been on varsity since her freshman year and last season earned Daily Herald All-Area honors after averaging a team-best 13.3 points per game. She was the best player on a Mustangs team that went 26-5 and won a regional championship.
Knar tore her ACL while playing in a tournament at Dundee-Crown in late October.
"There was no contact," Mundelein coach Brian Evans said. "She did her jump-through move, came down after she made the basket and grabbed her knee."
Knar collapsed to the court in obvious pain. When she didn't get up immediately, that was reason for concern for Evans.
"Toni doesn't go down and stay down," Evans said. "She broke her nose three times in high school and never missed a practice."
The initial hope was that Knar dislocated her kneecap, but an MRI the following week revealed the ripped ACL.
She's scheduled to undergo reconstructive surgery this month. While her senior season may have ended before it ever started, she'll still be heavily involved with the Mustangs.
"Toni is as much a part of this team as she always has been," Evans said. "She just will not be able to play. I told her, 'You need to be a leader now more than ever. You can't lead by example on the court, but you can lead by example by everything else you do.' "
So, Knar is a captain. She feeds passes during practice drills and is doing whatever she can to contribute.
"She's even asked if she can (wear) her uniform during games (while sitting on the bench)," Evans said. "She really wants to be part of the team."
Knar is visiting Missouri S&T (formerly Missouri-Rolla) this weekend. She just recently had given a verbal commitment to the school. The Lady Miners decided to honor their scholarship offer to Knar even after they were informed of her knee injury.
Evans signs with Oakland City: Mundelein senior guard/forward Brooke Evans signed a letter of intent with Oakland City University in small-town Oakland City, Ind., on Wednesday.
The NCAA Division II Christian liberal arts school is about 15 miles east of Evansville.
"You're driving along and all of a sudden it's like the Field of Dreams - bam, there it is," said Mundelein coach Brian Evans, Brooke's dad. "It's cornfield, cornfield, cows, cows, coyote, university."
Brooke Evans has been a varsity player since her freshman year. She received a full athletic scholarship.
"We were searching the Internet for Christian universities, and we were sending out tapes everywhere," Brian Evans said. "The (Missouri S&T) coach called and said, 'We like what we saw.' They saw her play in a couple of tournaments. It's like a dream come true for us, because we wanted to send her to a Christian university and we wanted her to be able to play."