Vermont's second-leading scorer out

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) -- The University of Vermont's star senior center, Matt Sheftic, has been forced out of the 2003-04 men's basketball season because he suffered a torn ligament in his right knee.

Sheftic learned the extent of the injury Friday after a magnetic resonance imaging test revealed the 6-foot-8 standout from Essex Junction severed his anterior cruciate ligament during a summer league game Monday.

Dr. Robert Johnson, a Colchester knee specialist, read the MRI on Friday and delivered the bleak diagnosis.

"I don't even know what to say right now," Sheftic said. "I was just trying to be as optimistic as I could, but ... obviously, this is the worst news I could get."

The diagnosis is a crippling blow to a Catamounts team poised to repeat its success of last winter, when it won its first America East conference tournament title and made the program's first NCAA tournament appearance.

"It's a terrible, terrible loss," Catamounts head coach Tom Brennan said. "It's terrible for us, and it's terrible for him. I'm devastated for him."

The news is particularly cruel for a player whose collegiate career already has been star-crossed.

Sheftic was only beginning to blossom into a stalwart in the Catamounts' frontcourt when his younger sister, Lauren, was struck with a brain aneurysm midway through his sophomore season. Sheftic decided to leave the team before his junior year, resolving to spend time with Lauren and focus on his studies and his ROTC commitments.

Lauren Sheftic died in December of 2001, and her brother, armed with new perspective and new energy, rejoined the team last fall. He averaged 10.8 points and 6.3 points per game in UVM's title run, providing the Cats with a combination of size and muscle few teams in the conference could challenge.

"It's hard taking a year off with my sister being so sick, then coming back and being so pumped to play again, and now this," Sheftic said, "but it's life. At best, life is just a series of ups and downs. I learned that from my sister. This is just another thing to get over, and I will get over it."

Brennan said to team will try to do the same.

"What's so sad is that he was right on the cusp," Brennan said. "He was our best player the last month of the season, and like I said before, he made us so difficult to guard and allowed us to guard other people.

"Fortunately, we have Scotty (Jones) and (Martin) Klimes and the new guy (Matt Hanson). So we have some depth. But we don't have him."

Sheftic's future with the Catamounts is unclear. NCAA rules allow a student-athlete five years to play four seasons. Because Sheftic sat out a year, the upcoming season was to be his fifth year. The NCAA has granted a sixth year to athletes with special circumstances, and Brennan considers Sheftic's case a strong one. The school said it will apply for a sixth year on Sheftic's behalf.

 

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