Texas A&M senior guard Derrick Roland arrived home on Christmas Day after having surgery to insert a rod and three screws in his leg, which he broke while jumping under the basket against Washington Dec. 22, according to a university press release.
Roland crumpled to the floor with his right tibia and fibula snapped. The force of the fall pushed a bone through the skin and left his leg at nearly a 90-degree angle. Fans recoiled in empathetic anguish, and coach Mark Turgeon and Washington doctors rushed to Roland’s aid, according to an ESPN.com report. After a 10-minute delay, Roland was stabilized, loaded into an ambulance and taken to Harborview Medical Center for emergency care.
A Washington spokesman said the only similar injury he remembers is Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann suffering a broken leg that was graphically visible on national TV in 1985.
Roland was posting career-best averages of 10.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game for the Aggies. Like Theismann’s injury did to the Redskins quarterback, many speculate that this injury will end Roland’s playing career.
