Central standout back on court
HOW quickly they forget about you when you’re gone. This happens often in sports. Former St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner owes his entire career to the fleeting memory of Trent Green. Look anywhere. If the new guy’s doing the job as well or better than the guy who’s out of the picture, the bandwagon has moved on.
In the case of major college recruiting, being out of consciousness is terrible.
Davenport Central senior-to-be L.A. Pomlee lost a season this past year when a potentially severe blood clot threatened to keep him from playing basketball for the rest of his life.
The important junior year in the eyes of college recruiters didn’t happen for the 6-foot-8 center, but a sophomore season in which he averaged 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils gave him a boost. This summer, Pomlee’s more than back.
“Right now, I feel 110 percent,” he said last week, after returning from a trip to an invitation-only NBA camp in Carlottesville, Va.
Pomlee has been crisscrossing the eastern side of the United States this summer, playing tournaments with the prestigious, Iowa-based Martin Brothers Select travelling team and competing with the rest of the Blue Devils in league games at St. Ambrose University on Wednesday nights.
He’s making sure those who allowed him to drop off of their radar last year start remembering again.
“I was a little nervous about it starting the year,” Central coach Craig Wurdinger said of the effect of Pomlee missing a season. “I didn’t know how this would affect him in the long run. I think a lot of the coaches were waiting to see how this would affect him.”
The injury
According to the recruiting Web site Scout.com, Pomlee is the 10th-best power forward in the country in the class of 2008. He couldn’t increase his position once the blood clot was discovered in his left leg during a weight-lifting session in September 2006.
“It felt like a pulled muscle in my calf and I just blew that off,” Pomlee said. “Then it felt like a Charley horse constantly. It got really big, and one night we went to the hospital. I knew the seriousness right away. They told me if it burst, it could go into my heart.
“At first, I was really scared. They had me on bed rest for a full day. All I did were crossword puzzles all day. I didn’t get any sleep.”
He was taken off blood thinning medications at the end of the basketball season and is taking a baby aspirin a day to help his blood flow, leaving him without any health vulnerabilities.
Finding his way back
No one really forgets about Pomlee.
Some fear his return, and others can’t wait to celebrate it.
For his junior season, Pomlee was accustomed to sitting at the end of the bench with athletic trainer Steve Knoche. He wore dress shirts, ties, slacks and dress shoes as he patiently waited six months for the blood-thinning agents to be out of his body, having fixed the blood clot. All he wanted was to wear those saggy blue and white basketball shorts and those sneakers again.
Pomlee never was gone. He was right there, but the word had gotten that the chance of his return by the end of the season was slim to none.
As Central fans watched Zach Kenyon play Pomlee’s position, saw E.J. Hicks maturing as a player and were introduced to the fearless play of youngster Hal Bateman, they thought about the weapons the Blue Devils could have. Pomlee watched the same things.
“I got stronger during that time. It was really hard because I couldn’t start riding the bike until halfway through the season,” said Pomlee, who went to all of the team’s practices to shoot free throws and not much else.
At the end of the season, he was given permission to jog and participate in pregame warmups.
“When we first discovered the blood clot, I felt it, but once I got on blood thinners, it was better,” he said. “I still couldn’t do anything until six months were over. I never tried to do anything I wasn’t supposed to. I knew the seriousness of the injury.”
Known for his ability to take over games, Pomlee was asked by Wurdinger to take over more often this season. He said he has felt normal since April, though his fitness still is a work in progress.
“I’m ready for the season to start right now,” he said.
His preparation has taken him to New York and Virginia, where he was one of just more than 100 of the top high school prospects in the country who were hand-picked for the weeklong camp attended by hordes of college coaches.
“It was crazy. It was 105 players,” Pomlee said of the camp put together by the NBA. “It wasn’t just my class. You saw all of the big-name players there — from ’08, ’09 and ’10. I was playing as a five-man down there and going against 7-footers every game. I had my games. It helped me a lot because you feel like if you can compete with the players down there that you can come back home and just dominate at your position.”
Pomlee is in Tulsa, Okla., this week with the Martin Brothers and leaves for Orlando, Fla., for two weeks Wednesday. He has an enhanced understanding of the game that he gained while sitting on the sidelines.
“He was able to sit and watch and learn and get a different picture as an observer,” Wurdinger said. “He understands the game better. I think he saw the big picture of what we were trying to do as a team, rather than just what he needed to do. If anything positive came out of him not playing last year, it was that.”
Pomlee thinks he’s in a better place as a player.
“I think I’ve improved more than I did between any season,” he said.
Sean Moeller can be contacted at (563) 383-2288 or at smoeller@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at www.qctimes.com.