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Winkfield doing well on road to recovery
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Posted on Jun 20 2005
The finals most valuable player of the 2005 BANMI 25-and-under Basketball League is doing well and is well on his way on the road to recovery.
High-leaping swingman Jeremy Winkfield of 2005 champions Toyota Prius was expected to be released from the hospital yesterday.
Not new to tough challenges, Winkfield will spend the next six weeks with a cast on his left leg. The period will be followed with six weeks of rehabilitation.
Despite the injury, the 18-year-old phenom said he will continue to see action in the sport, which he has been a dominating force each time he step foot on the hard court.
“I feel okay but still feel kind of disappointed,” Winkfield said during a phone interview Sunday. “It’s going to take a while…of course I’m going to play.”
Winkfield added he still has his mind set on entering the U.S. Marines, however, his plans of leaving this October may be pushed back.
Winkfield severely injured his left leg in the third quarter of the league’s championship game between Toyota and Ulloa’s Wednesday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. Prior to the injury, the gold medal swimmer and junior record holder of several track and field events had already pumped in a whopping 17 points. His final two points came on a thunderous two-handed slam dunk.
Winkfield was Toyota’s main offensive weapon, going off for 224 points in 10 regular season games for fifth-best average of 18.7 points per outing, leading Prius to the pennant crown with a 9-1 win-loss card.
He averaged 17.7 points per game in three outings in the playoffs.
Shortly after receiving their championship trophy, the Toyota players and coach Gabriel White dedicated the award to Winkfield.
“This is a very big win after what Jeremy had gone through. His accident basically really inspired us to take this all the way,” White said. “Words can’t express this. Jeremy inspired us. He told us before being carried off on a stretcher, ‘to win this game.’ We had one goal in mind and that’s to win this game. We’ve kept our focus and Jeremy is getting our [Finals] MVP award.”
