One of the best that ever donned the crimson and blue ended her career prematurely. Senior guard Danielle McCray tore the ACL in her left knee during Thursday afternoon’s practice and will miss the remainder of the 2009-10 season.

McCray suffered the injury in the first fifteen minutes of practice during a four-on-four drill that the team runs regularly. The drill was low in contact, but McCray, untouched, fell to the floor and let out a piercing scream.

“She’s a very strong person,” freshman guard Monica Engelman said. “To hear her in pain like that was overwhelming.”

Engelman replaced McCray in the starting lineup Sunday and looked the part of a talented impersonator.

“She faked the screen and went baseline for a shot. That’s something that I would do,” McCray said.

As Engelman was scoring, McCray was scribing. Knee braced and eyes peeled, McCray sat in between a row of assistant coaches and scribbled notes of observation.

“I was making sure that at every media timeout I had something to say,” McCray said.

McCray said that she wanted to divert the attention from her injury and fill a new role as teacher.

“Moping around isn’t going to change the outcome of anything,” McCray said. “I have a new mind-set. I have to help my teammates out.”

Already carrying the team on her shoulders, senior guard Sade Morris must now lead Kansas without her sharp shooting teammate and dear friend.

“It hurts,” Morris said. “I thought about senior day. That’s what you wait for.”

The crushing news is something that this team has dealt with before. In a 70-68 loss against Oklahoma State on Jan. 12th, freshman guard Angel Goodrich tore the ACL in her right knee and ended her season. She tore the ACL in her left knee during a preseason practice last year and ended her true freshman season, forcing her to red-shirt.

“Me and Angel had an hour conversation last night,” McCray said. “We think it’s going to make us love the game even more. You never know how much you miss something until it is taken from you.”

Goodrich will return as a sophomore next year. As a senior, McCray’s career at Kansas has come to an end. However Henrickson feels that there is more to come from her fallen star.

“She’s going to be okay,” Henrickson said. “She’s going to be drafted and play professionally.”

By numbers alone, McCray will be considered one of the greatest players in Kansas women’s basketball history. She ranks in the top 10 in school history in 10 different categories. In 116 games, she scored 1,934 points (4th all time in school history). The second team preseason All-American averaged 19.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game this season.

“I’ve heard from a lot of people,” McCray said. “Facebook inbox full. Phone calls and text messages. I told my mom that I didn’t think that I was that important. You really don’t know until something happens. It’s cool how many people care about you.”

With the two significant injuries, Kansas is surely handicapped in skill and depth. However the Jayhawks can also rally around the injuries to ignite a passionate fire as they did Sunday.

“That’s what I love about this team,” McCray said. “It makes them fight even harder.”

— Edited by Kristen Liszewksi