*Course: Sportswriting (JOUR381W; Spring 2021)*
5th-year guard expects to be ‘just as good’ in final season.
“It happened about 20 feet in front of me,” Duquesne University women’s basketball head coach Dan Burt said. “When you heard the scream, you clearly knew what had happened.”
Burt was describing an ACL tear suffered by senior guard Amanda Kalin after her knee buckled during an Atlantic 10 Conference matchup against the University of Dayton on Jan. 3 of this past season.
The injury effectively ended Kalin’s season after just six games. Kalin explained that she is “not one to freak out,” but even she couldn’t hold back.
“I think my leg was completely straight when I landed,” Kalin said. “My knee just bent inward really weird, and it was probably the worst pain I’ve ever felt. There was an agonizing pain for 30 seconds that just wouldn’t go away.”
In the months since her injury, Kalin has decided that she will return to the program for a fifth year, using the extra year of eligibility granted to all winter-sport athletes by the NCAA during the 2020-21 season.
She was leaning toward returning to Duquesne for an extra season prior to her injury. The setback only made her desire to come back even stronger.
“This year was so abnormal,” Kalin said, “and I wanted a genuine year of playing. Then this happened. I knew I couldn’t end like that, so I wanted to make a recovery and come back for one last year of playing the sport.”
Despite playing in just 6 of Duquesne’s 16 contests, Kalin led her team in points per game (15.5) and minutes per game (33.5). Burt knew that her injury would be detrimental to the team.
“Without her on the floor, we were tremendously inexperienced,” Burt said. “It affected the entire team, and it affected our season.”
Duquesne finished the COVID-shortened season with a 5-11 overall record (4-7 in A10 play), suffering its first losing season in eight years since Burt took over prior to the 2013-14 campaign.
Kalin hopes to be a key part in getting the team back to its winning ways. Burt is excited to have her back, knowing how committed she is to the sport.
“She doesn’t care about the gear or uniforms or where we’re playing,” Burt said. “She just wants to play basketball. She’s a baller.”
The injury was the second Kalin suffered in her four seasons at Duquesne. She missed nine games in 2017-18, her freshman season, after suffering a setback in a crosstown
matchup against the University of Pittsburgh.
Kalin feels that her first injury prepared her to stay composed when dealing with the torn ACL.
“I didn’t handle that injury well at all,” Kalin said. “I just wanted to get back so quickly. I knew that there was absolutely nothing I could do about this one, so I just had to focus on getting better and supporting my teammates along the way.”
Kalin is proud of the way she’s grown over her four years at Duquesne. She believes that her perspective on this setback can change the way she goes about returning to the court.
“Nothing is really handed to you,” Kalin said, “and you really only have yourself. I am in full control of how I react to things, and I have to believe in myself. Only I can get myself out of slumps that I might get myself into.”
Despite an abundance of adversities, Kalin has never relented. She approaches each new challenge with the goal of coming out on top.
“I’ve gone through a lot of ups and downs,” Kalin said, “whether that be with COVID, the injuries or coming in as a freshman and maybe not playing as much as I would’ve liked. I’ve learned to push through the difficult times and lean on the people around me.”
From Burt’s perspective, Kalin is an exemplary athlete, stopping at nothing to give everything she’s got to the team.
“You know that she’s going to give you the work ethic, the effort and the skill every single day,” Burt said. “Whenever she steps between the lines, she is focused on being the very best that she can be.”
Kalin is in a positive state of mind, but knows that her return may present some challenges. She’s prepared to combat those challenges by any means necessary.
“I’m in the mindset that I’m going to be just fine,” Kalin said. “If I am slower, I will definitely adapt my game. I’m expecting to come back just as good as I was.”
Despite Kalin returning from such a dramatic injury, Burt’s on-court expectations for her have not shifted one bit.
“She’s someone who can score the ball right at the rim at an incredibly-high percentage,” Burt said, “and she also shoots the 3 pretty well from the wing. We’re expecting nothing less than the same old Amanda Kalin that we had.”
Kalin had a taste of postseason experience during her freshman year, when the team was invited to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. The Dukes advanced to the tournament’s third round, with Kalin playing an average of 17.3 minutes per game and scoring in all three contests.
She’s eager to help get her team back to the same level of success in her final season, potentially having a bigger role this time around.
“Just to experience something like that, knowing it’s something that not everybody gets to experience, is a big motivator," Kalin said. "It’s something that would be really amazing to be able to accomplish again.”
Burt joked that Kalin’s sustained success has become dull in a sense.
“She’s so consistent that it almost becomes boring because she’s consistently good,” Burt laughed. “She’s a kid that has been a very steady influence for her entire career at Duquesne. You don’t have to worry about having to motivate her.”
While Kalin has a lot to look forward to upon returning to the court with her teammates, perhaps nothing is more important to the Pine-Richland High School graduate than getting one final season to play in front of family and friends at the recently-renovated UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
“It is really convenient and really nice being so close to home,” Kalin said, “and I’ve made a lot of great friends. I wouldn’t want to finish my career anywhere else but here.”
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