A position as floor general to a sideline spot.
Nikes for black dress flats.
A regulation basketball for a generic clipboard.
These are just a few of the trade-offs that star guard Jasmine Sina had to make last year after tearing her ACL.
During a routine strength and conditioning session just two weeks before the season started, Sina injured her left knee. At first, she wasn’t overly concerned. She figured she’d take it easy for a few days, rest and then get back on the court to prove her outstanding freshman season was no fluke.
Then it came — the call that changed it all. Sina’s ACL was torn.
“It was kind of heartbreaking because I wasn’t prepared,” Sina said. “I didn’t really think anything was wrong.”
With the news, the landscape of the next six months of her life shifted drastically. She wouldn’t spend the time on the court with her teammates, fighting to move up in the America East (AE) standings. Instead, she underwent surgery to repair the torn ligament, began intensive physical therapy sessions and watched as her teammates took the floor without her.
A season-ending injury is devastating for any athlete, but Sina’s absence was also a huge blow to the team that she had led during the 2014-15 season. In her first season in a Binghamton uniform, Sina served as the cornerstone of the offense — calling plays, distributing the ball and keeping the Bearcats in games.
The rookie dominated the score sheet for BU, draining an average of 14.8 points per game. She was particularly lethal from beyond the arc, leading the conference with three 3-pointers per contest. At the conclusion of the season, Sina became just the third player in program history to be selected as the AE Rookie of the Year.
“Obviously it is a huge loss for our program,” said BU head coach Linda Cimino at the time. “But, with all adversity, you have to look ahead and see how you are going to respond and react to it.”
The Bearcats rose to the challenge, more than tripling their win total from the 2014-15 season and notching their first playoff victory — a 49-41 semifinal win over UMBC — in five seasons. Sophomore guard Imani Watkins took over for Sina at the point, spearheading the offense with an average of 16 points per game.
As her team made strides on the court, Sina was there every step of the way on the sidelines. After being granted a medical redshirt season, she joined Cimino’s staff as an assistant coach. Although she may not have been sinking signature 3-pointers from the top of the key, Sina’s presence was felt as she helped coach her teammates to a third-place finish in the AE.
“Not many people get to have that experience in college and it definitely gave me a taste of what it’s like to be on the sidelines as a coach,” Sina said. “It may be something that I’m thinking about doing in the future.”
Sina’s presence on the sidelines wasn’t just a ploy to make an injured player feel like part of the team. Despite not logging a minute for the Bearcats last season, she was chosen as one of the team’s co-captains for the 2016-17 season.
“It means a great deal to me because I love being a leader for them,” Sina said. “I think I have a lot of respect from them and I’ve built a relationship with every single person on the team where they can trust me on and off the court.”
Sina’s return will be particularly meaningful to junior forward Alyssa James, who has been with the team for two seasons but redshirted in 2014-15 due to NCAA transfer rules, missing the chance to play with Sina.
“I’m very excited [to play with Sina],” James said. “She has a great 3-pointer, as you can see. I’m just hoping to get her as many points because she works so hard to get people the ball.”
When Sina speaks of her time on the sidelines, one phrase is repeated more than all others: “Basketball IQ.”
“Last year being on the sidelines … it really allowed me to have a better IQ this year, playing on the floor and allowed me to see the court better.”
Sina will put this deeper knowledge to use for a BU team that aims to continue its ascension to the top of the conference.
“We want to win the championship,” she said. “Obviously the accolades will come, but that’s our one goal — our team goal — and that’s what we’re working toward every day.