It takes some pretty strange circumstances for an ex-player accepting a graduate assistant job to be newsworthy, but Derrick Jasper taking such a role under new Texas Tech coach Billy Gillispie certainly qualifies.
Jasper played for Gillispie at Kentucky during the 2007-08 season before transferring to UNLV to finish his college career closer to his family in Paso Robles, Calif. A major reason for the willowy 6-foot-6 guard's decision to leave Kentucky at the time also appeared to be that Gillispie rushed him back too quickly from offseason microfracture knee surgery.
Whereas NBA players Amar'e Stoudemire and Greg Oden needed a full year to return from microfracture surgery and Chris Webber played through pain to come back in nine months, Jasper played just six months after undergoing the procedure. He played 19 of the final 20 games of the season to help Kentucky earn an NCAA tournament berth, averaging 4.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists even though the injury still caused him constant pain and robbed him of his former athleticism.
The reason for the rush to get Jasper back was Kentucky had started the season 5-6 and desperately needed the sophomore guard's steadying influence. Asked by the Louisville Courier-Journal if he considered redshirting the season, Jasper acknowledged his knee was nowhere near 100 percent but responded, "No, coach said he wasn't going to redshirt me. He wanted me on the floor."
Jasper's mother elaborated on the situation further in an interview with the Las Vegas Sun in Jan. 2009.
"The doctor kind of kept close contact with me, his trainers did, and they kept assuring me that they wouldn't put him out there until he was ready," Sue Jasper said. "I trusted them, and felt like they knew what they were doing. He told me like two days before (his first game back), and I was kind of shocked that he was going to go in."
It's impossible to know whether rushing back from injury at Kentucky made Jasper's knee problems worse, but it's safe to say he never regained the explosiveness he showed prior to getting hurt. Jasper was a productive role player his final two seasons at UNLV, alternating between the starting lineup and a sixth man role despite hobbling on his surgically repaired knee at times and playing exclusively below the rim.
Why would Jasper decide to work under Gillispie? Has Gillispie received too much blame for Jasper's injury woes? Is their relationship better than has previously been reported?
Those are the so far unanswered questions that make Jasper's graduate assistant gig at Texas Tech far more intriguing than most.
Lokelani McMichael Freida Pinto Eva Longoria Susan Ward Emmy Rossum
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