Immediately after high-scoring junior Damian Lillard suffered a season-ending right foot injury last December, Weber State coach Randy Rahe checked NCAA rules to see if his star guard was eligible for a medical redshirt.
What Rahe learned was that he'd have to get creative to make it possible.
Since the injury was in Weber State's ninth game of the season and a player is ineligible for a medical redshirt if he played in more than 30 percent of his team's season, Lillard was a candidate for a redshirt only if the Wildcats played a full 30-game schedule. However, Weber State was only slated to play 29 games, forcing Rahe to scramble to add a game at midseason in order to ensure Lillard would have two more years eligibility remaining.
"We immediately put out an email explaining our situation and telling everybody, 'We'll play anybody, anywhere to get this game,'" Rahe said by phone. "Saint Mary's contacted us pretty quick. They were willing to do it because their conference tournament is early and they wanted to play a game and stay sharp before the postseason. They were kind enough to have us come out."
Saint Mary's clobbered Weber State 77-54 on March 12 to strengthen its postseason resume, but the Wildcats also emerged as winners a few months later. The NCAA approved Lillard's request for a medical redshirt last week, ensuring the Wildcats will have the Big Sky Conference player of the year hopeful for the next two years.
"There's not a kid out there that deserves it more than Damian," Rahe said. "He's obviously an excellent basketball player, but he's a better kid than he is a player. I've done this for over 20 years and I've never been around a kid who works as hard as he does to be a good player. Some guys work out in the gym constantly to put up numbers. Damian works out constantly because he wants to win."
The return of Lillard to a Weber State team that went 11-5 in the Big Sky without him makes the Wildcats preseason favorites to capture next season's conference crown. In fact, there's even been talk Weber State may be the state of Utah's best team next season with BYU rebuilding post-Jimmer Fredette, Utah transitioning to a new coach and Utah State replacing six seniors including star Tai Wesley.
There's extra motivation for the Wildcats to excel next year. Weber State has won 10 or more games in conference play each of the past five years and has captured three of the past five Big Sky regular season titles, but it hasn't been to the NCAA tournament since 2007, a prolonged drought for a program accustomed to high-level success.
"We take a lot of pride in winning the regular season championship, but all of a sudden it comes down to a two-day tournament and you play one bad game and you're done," Rahe said. "Everybody wants to get to the NCAA tournament, but I'm really proud of what these guys have done the past few years. We're going to strive to win the regular season again next year and then hope to win the tournament."
It was a tremendous accomplishment for Weber State to contend in the Big Sky without a player who averaged 19.9 points per game as a sophomore, but Rahe believes Lillard's injury may help the Wildcats in the future. Double-figure scorers Scott Bamforth and Kyle Bullinger had a chance to flourish without Lillard, an experience that left them brimming with confidence once the season ended.
"The last weekend of the regular season, we had a chance to win the league and we came up short by a game or two, but it was satisfying to see how we dug deep, changed the way we played and had some young guys step up," Rahe said. "It gave everyone a lot of confidence when we realized we could still play without Damian. I think it will really help us for next year. I think it's a confidence builder for these guys."
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