When Caleb Homesley went down early in the 2nd half against Princeton on Saturday afternoon with an audible scream, the air was let out of the Vines Center and the hearts’ of Flames fans everywhere.
Entering the game against the Tigers, Homesley was leading the team in points, rebounds, assists, and blocks. He was having a breakout game against Princeton, with 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists in 21 minutes. The 6’4″ sophomore (that’s his listed height, he looks more like 6’6″ or 6’7″) was able to penetrate the Tigers’ defense at will all afternoon.
With 16:45 left in the game and the Flames trailing by 12, Homesley once again got into the paint, missed a shot, but grabbed his own offensive rebound. He then turned and made an athletic move to the basket where he was able to finish to cut the lead to 10. As he landed, his right knee appeared to buckle and Caleb let out a loud scream as he fell to the ground grabbing his leg.
Liberty must move on without Homesley in the lineup
“By what he said, I knew he was done,” McKay said. “He asked why. He was pleading for help, and he said why, why, why. My heart breaks for him…it just doesn’t seem fair.”
“It’s always gut-wrenching when you see a teammate go down like that and hear him yell,” Ryan Kemrite said. “It was a little rough. We had some guys a little shook up by it.”
During his senior year in high school, Homesley tore the ACL in his left knee. It took him about 15 to 16 months to recover from that injury. As a true sophomore, Liberty will certainly look in to seeing if he is able to get a medical redshirt for this season. The NCAA rule states that the student-athlete must not have competed in more than 30% of the season to be eligible for a medical redshirt. Liberty’s regular season contains 31 games, not including at least one Big South Tournament game and any other postseason games the Flames could play in. The Princeton game was game #10 which pushed it just over the 30% mark of the regular season.
He had quickly developed in to the team’s best player and a go-to player on the offensive end of the floor with Coach McKay frequently calling designed plays for Homesley. Caleb was on his way to having an all-conference type season, something the Flames haven’t had since the 2011-2012 year. His length provided matchup problems on both ends of the floor. He’s someone that cannot be replaced.
With that said, McKay’s squad isn’t going to roll over as clearly evidenced by their big 2nd half against the Tigers on Saturday when they went on a 16-2 run to cut Princeton’s lead to 1 with a minute to play.
“I was proud of our group,” McKay said of the team’s response to Homesley’s injury. “That’s an emotional swing in a game and we were battling just to try and stay connected, and then, arguably, your best player goes down. He has been playing great.”
Homesley was averaging 12.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists per game
John Dawson, who has been struggling much of the year, must return to his all-conference potential while freshmen Brock Gardner and Myo Baxter-Bell will also be counted on for increased production in Homesley’s absence.
“Whether it’s me stepping up or us as a team stepping up, it has to happen because he was a big part of our team,” Brock Gardner explained.
What was Liberty’s ceiling with a healthy Homesley? We may never know. It looks like the Big South is Winthrop’s to lose right now, and Homesley would have provided an extra dimension to combat the likes of Xavier Cooks. Without him, the team still has the potential to finish in the top 4 of the league, and the extended playing time guys like Brock Gardner will receive could prove invaluable in the coming years.
“We’re not sure why (this happened),” McKay stated, “but we’ll love on him and support him. He’s been special for our basketball program in the 40 games I’ve been privileged to coach him, and he’ll have a lot more special days ahead.”
