At times it seems as if the men and women in the sports medicine industry can work miracles—broken bones, torn muscles and snapped ligaments. When the ailment is infectious mononucleosis, however, modern medicine can only sit and wait.
Shavlik Randolph has learned this the hard way. He contracted mono in the fall, and the recovery time from the infection can be quite lengthy and relapses are common. It took a month of rest before Randolph was finally cleared to play against Virginia at home Jan. 16. Although his athleticisim is still severely hampered by the illness, he is slowly recovering the skills he lost after weeks without physical exertion.
“I think I’m getting better,” Randolph said. “After not doing anything for a month, you come back really rusty, so right now all I can do keep getting better.... I think I’m getting better each day in practice. I just have to let my wind come back and let this thing take its course, I’m just really out of shape.”
Randolph has played in three games since contracting the disease and has seen his playing time increase in each contest. Against Virginia he logged five minutes, during which he scored two points, grabbed one rebound and held his ground on defense with two blocks. At Miami he played for 12 scoreless minutes but helped his team by drawing several charging fouls against the Hurricanes.
Randolph’s best performance came Saturday against Florida State. In 14 minutes the junior scored 10 points against the Hurricanes—capped by a emphatic putback dunk.
“Shav is getting a few more minutes—still a ways away from being full strength—but he’s contributing,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said after Duke’s two-game Florida road trip. “In both games he made big contributions, so we’re excited about that and I’m really happy for him because that’s a terrible setback for him to have that type of sickness while you’re playing.”
Randolph attributed his success against Florida State to learning how to play hard even when the infection is wearing him down.
“I think more so than [my game] improving, I’m learning how to mange myself a little bit better, especially when I’m out on the court,” Randolph said. “There’s going to be times when I’m tired and the team’s going to need me to do stuff. This team can’t wait another two weeks to a month for me to get back to 100 percent, so there are times when I’m going to have to be out there sucking wind and still be able to do things well.”
It is difficult to forecast when Randolph will be recovered since his energy level has been changing at a moment’s notice.
“It’s weird because it fluctuates,” Randolph said. “There will be times when I go out there and feel like I’m good—I’ll feel fine—and then there will be times in layup lines when I’ll think ‘Wow’ and it hits me.... I can feel fine one minute and the next minute I’ll feel drained.”
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