MUSKEGON - The pain of suffering a torn ACL in the same knee twice in roughly nine months was bad enough.

The dreadful feeling Damari Roberson realized -- that his high school career was over -- when he had re-injured his left knee a few weeks ago was even worse.

The betrayal that Roberson and Mona Shores coach Matt Koziak felt after learning the scholarship offer from Northwestern University, Roberson's preferred college choice, was no longer valid following his second injury? That really hurt.

A promising high school career for Roberson, a dynamic 6-foot-2, 195-pound receiver/linebacker/return man for Mona Shores and a three-star prospect, is over abruptly. He will miss his entire senior season this fall after his 2017 campaign was cut short by the same injury to the same knee on the first play of the Sailors' fifth game.

Both injuries came on non-contact plays, in which he was trying to make cuts.

Even after the second injury, Western Michigan University honored its commitment to Roberson and kept its offer on the table. In turn, Roberson rewarded that loyalty with a commitment to the Broncos.

WMU earned even more respect from Koziak than had already been granted by the alumnus and former Broncos football player.

"(It showed) just that they really care about me," Roberson said about WMU. "Everybody else turned their back on me. ... Western was there for me. They knew what they were going to get."

Meanwhile, Northwestern - Roberson's first choice pre-injury - sunk to the bottom of Koziak's list, putting it mildly.

Mona Shores coach Matt Koziak was not happy with the Northwestern coaching staff's decision to pull Damari Roberson's offer.

"He wanted to commit to Northwestern, however he wanted to be up front with the coach. He said, 'Coach, I want to commit, but I've got to be honest with you, I tore my ACL again,'" Koziak shared about the exchange between Roberson and Northwestern receivers coach Dennis Springer.

"And Northwestern was like, 'We can't take your commitment.' So I'm texting the coaches and I said, 'What if he would have committed to you guys before he tore his ACL - would you have honored his commitment?' (They responded) 'Absolutely, 100 percent, if he would have committed (before telling them about the ACL injury).'

"And so I said, 'So he should have lied to you. He should have said, "Hey, I want to commit," because you didn't know he tore his ACL and then maybe two weeks from now say he tore it.'"

Consequently, Northwestern is no longer allowed to recruit Mona Shores players, if Koziak has his way.

"Northwestern is no longer allowed in our building. They're not allowed, at least to me, to recruit our kids. They are no longer welcome in our building," he said.

When contacted via email, an official with the Northwestern athletic media relations department said the program could not comment on prospective student-athletes.

Koziak said he lost sleep over Roberson's re-injury because he knew how hard Roberson had worked to recover from the first ACL tear.

Roberson's absence is a tremendous hit to Mona Shores' upcoming season. At the same time, Koziak has a "next man up" mantra and Roberson is trying to be the leader the Sailors need.

"I'm going to be just like a coach, just like last year. There's nothing we can do about it," said Roberson, who in the first four games last season scored touchdowns via rushing, receiving and on a kickoff return. "I know I'll be all right now, but I can't let my teammates down (with a poor attitude)."

Based on the fact that he carries a 3.6 grade-point average and that he was recruited by Harvard, which still wanted him to visit after the second injury, Roberson appears to have a good head on his shoulders.

Roberson underwent surgery last week, a procedure performed by WMU doctors, per Koziak. Roberson estimated his recovery time to be at least six months.

Roberson intends on making it official with the Broncos during the early signing period in December, and he plans to be an early enrollee at WMU. He plans to pursue a degree in the business realm so he can one day become a CEO and own a business.

At one time, Roberson had 17 offers, including from the likes of Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Minnesota, Purdue and Syracuse. Koziak said that Mid-American Conference programs kept their offers on the table for Roberson, who is the No. 29-rated overall prospect in Michigan for the class of 2019, according to 247Sports, while Big Ten programs pulled their offers.

Roberson said the whole experience has been eye-opening.

"I see that it's a business. I knew that it was a business, but I mean ... a lot of coaches say a lot of things to players and prospects, but they don't actually mean it," he said.

Much like Mona Shores alumnus Asantay Brown, who flourished at WMU with a similar skill set, Roberson said he'll keep an open mind about which position he will play for the Broncos.

Another former Mona Shores standout, Hunter Broersma, is at WMU and Roberson's current Sailors teammate, three-star linebacker Jacob Wahlberg, recently committed to the Broncos.

Koziak has plenty of experience dealing with college coaches and recruiters, but Roberson's experience provided a harsh dose of reality.

"The (Northwestern) receivers coach had visited him three times (during the recruiting process). They called Damari once a day and they would text me, 'What do I gotta do to get this kid to commit? I love this kid,'" Koziak recalled. "I quoted him (after the offer was pulled) and said, 'You love this kid? Give me a break.'

"It's a business and it's a meat factory. It's like, if the meat's no good, they throw it out.

"I'm a Western alum - I know that staff very well. I actually played with that head coach (Tim Lester) - he was my quarterback. I'm so proud of Western. (Roberson's) going to rehab, he's going to come back, and he's going to be lights-out. He's going to be a kid that plays there for three years, maybe four."