TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Less than three weeks ago, Herbert Jones was fearing the worst. Upon learning that he fractured his left wrist during a game at LSU on Jan. 29, the Alabama forward figured he had seen the last of the basketball court this season. Little did he know he’d put together his most memorable performance five games later. Playing with essentially one hand, Jones pulled in a career-high 17 rebounds during Alabama’s 88-82 victory against LSU over the weekend. He also tallied 6 points, including a pair of legendary free-throws — all while sporting a cast on his dominant left hand. By now, you’ve probably seen Jones' somewhat bulky, black cast. Tuesday, Alabama provided a little more detail on it as well as an update on the junior’s rapid road to recovery. Here’s a bit of what we learned.

A look at the timeline surrounding Jones' injury

Despite fracturing his wrist on a fall in the first half, Jones was able to return to the Jan. 29 game against LSU, logging 33 minutes in a 90-76 defeat in Baton Rouge, La. The following day, an MRI revealed he had a small fracture in one of the carpal bones in his left wrist. “I thought I was done for the season,” Jones said Tuesday. “It was hurting me pretty bad during the game, but I think my adrenaline was flowing so much I told them to tape it up, and I got back out there. When they told me I fractured it, I immediately thought I was done.” Jones’ initial fears were subdued two days later as he underwent successful surgery the following Saturday at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Birmingham, Ala. Alabama worked with Dr. Lyle Cain and hand/wrist specialist Dr. Kathleen McKeon who inserted a screw into Jones' wrist, internally fixating the bone while repairing the fracture. The prognosis on Jones was that he would miss roughly three weeks with his return date more or less revolving around how well he was able to tolerate the pain. He was placed in a hard cast for roughly a week before shedding it prior to Alabama’s game at Georgia on Feb. 8. At that point, Jones was able to participate in drills but was restricted primarily to right-handed skill work. Two days later, Jones got another checkup at St. Vincent’s where he received the playing cast he has worn the past two games. Jones went through shootaround with the team the morning of Alabama’s game at Auburn on Feb. 12 and was deemed fit enough to play in a limited role against the Tigers later that night. After Alabama cleared the cast with the SEC, Jones clocked seven minutes, registering three rebounds and a block while appearing mostly in defensive situations. Jones then practiced this past Friday before returning to the Crimson Tide’s starting lineup on Saturday.

A deeper look at Jones' cast

Jones’ current cast is removable and only used during basketball activities. It is set low and keeps his thumb free to allow him to get better movement. In order to coincide with SEC rules, it is completely covered in half-inch, open-cell memory foam in order to prevent it from injuring other players on the court. While it is a bit bulky at the moment, Alabama should be able to pare down Jones’ cast in the future which should allow him more mobility with his left hand. According to team trainer Clarke Holter, that step should come somewhere between the next week to 10 days. “Right now we’re in a phase where we’re trying to maximumly protect the wrist,” Holter said. “That’s why he has such a large protective device on his hand. But we hope as these weeks go past and he continues to feel good —you base how you progress the protection on how he feels and what you’re getting in a response in terms of swelling, pain. If he’s going consistent days without swelling and consistent days where he’s not having an increase in pain, well then you have that discussion about when can you downsize or trim this splint/brace/cast a little bit.”



A look at Jones’ restrictions with the cast

On top of the obvious physical limitations the cast presents, Jones wasn’t given too many restrictions on what he can do on the court. The physical defender is Alabama’s leader in “blue-collar” points and tops the team with 21 charges taken and 24 floor dives. That includes a charge he drew during the Crimson Tide’s win over LSU over the weekend.

“They don’t really restrict me because they know what kind of player I am,” Jones said. “It’s just more so ‘be careful.’ And I kind of pick and choose what I should do at times.” Despite the green light, Jones said he has been more cautious on the court. He grinned a bit when talking about a few floor dives against LSU, stating they left him a little more sore than usual. Along with focusing on using his right hand, Jones said he’s also worked on taking falls during practice to limit the impact on his injured left wrist. “Now when I take the charges, I just try to keep my hands up and take the fall on my back or — we wear the compressions — so I just try not to put my hands down,” he explained. According to Holter, Jones is not at an added risk of refracturing his wrist by playing. “Essentially the surgery repairs the fracture,” Holter said. “Really at that point, your goals are to restore strength, maintain a normal range of motion and then just protect the area from blunt force. If he’s going to have an increase in pain or discomfort, usually it’s going to be he suffers a similar mechanism AKA falling out of the air on an outstretched hand or gets a direct blunt force impact to the wrist.”

Stepping to the line

Jones’ game against LSU will best be remembered for the two one-handed free throws he made with 1:39 remaining. With Alabama leading 78-75, Jones was sent to the line for a one-and-one. Balancing the ball on his right palm, he got the first shot to roll in off the front of the rim before swishing the next attempt, sending Coleman Coliseum into a frenzy. “I wasn’t nervous because I mean nobody expected me to make a free throw with my right hand," Jones said. "So it wasn’t any pressure. I shot free throws that morning, came back in after shootaround, pregame. I just believed in all the work, and I got up there and just did what I did days before.” Jones said the shot required some trial and error during practice as he worked to get a better feel for the new shooting motion. “It was kind of to the left, so I had to adjust myself by moving to the right a little to line it up,” he said. “I’ve been working on it ever since then. It’s looking pretty good.” The two made free throws are even more impressive considering Jones is just 63.3 percent from the line this season. Tuesday, he was jokingly asked whether or not he would be attempting any one-handed 3s. Jones, who is 1 of 14 from beyond the arc this season, smiled and shook his head. “I don’t think Coach Oats would be too happy about that one,” he said.

Everyday struggles

In some ways, Jones believes his injury is a “blessing in disguise.” The left-hander said he has been wanting to get better at using his non-dominant hand and stated that “doing everything with my right hand is going to help me out more on the court.” Although, while things seem to be shaping up nicely on the court, Jones is still facing a bit of adversity outside of basketball.

“Eating is by far the hardest thing to do right now,” he said. “Like eating a bowl of cereal is kind of weird to me.” Fortunately, the junior has been afforded a bit of help on his classwork as his teachers have allowed him to type out his assignments while giving him some extra time as he slowly pecks at the keys on his computer.

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Andrew Bone, of BamaInsider.com, is a real estate broker in the state of Alabama.

Contact Andrew Bone for all of your real estate needs; buyers, sellers, investors, developers. Property management; BoneHomeTours.com Call 205-531-5577 or click here

