Surrounded by his family and girlfriend in his hospital room, an upbeat Kevin Ware has a simple message for all of the well-wishers and people worried about him: He's going to be OK.

The Louisville guard, who broke his tibia in horrific fashion during the Cardinals' Elite Eight game Sunday against Duke, is hoping to be discharged from an Indianapolis hospital Tuesday afternoon and return to his teammates at school.

Rick Pitino and his son, Florida International coach Richard Pitino, pose with Louisville guard Kevin Ware, who holds the Cardinals' regional championship trophy in his hospital room Monday. Kenn Klein/Louisville Athletics

"Hopefully I'll be back in time to watch practice," Ware told ESPN.com by phone Monday. "It hurts but I'll be fine. I'll be fine."

Ware, who had a steel rod inserted in his leg during a two-hour surgery late Sunday night, said that when the injury initially happened, he thought it wasn't serious. Then he saw the reaction of his coach, Rick Pitino, and knew something was wrong.

"I jumped and my leg felt kind of funny," he said. "When Coach P tried to help me up, he gave me a funny kind of look. I'm looking at him and then I look down and I see my bone sticking out. It wasn't a hurt feeling. I just went into shock. In the moment, you don't know what's wrong with you. You're just looking, thinking, 'How did this happen?' I never watched the replay. I never want to."

In the chaos after the injury, it was Ware who somehow remained calm. Pitino and his players talked after the game about how Ware asked his teammates to come to him, imploring them to win the game and not worry about him.

It wasn't, Ware said, an act of bravado but something he believed he had to do.