By CHRIS COOK
LongwoodLancers.com

Injuries happen. In college athletics, they happen frequently.
 
A sprained ankle. A pulled hamstring. Tendinitis. There is a laundry list of ailments that all athletes, regardless of sport, are at risk of suffering the second they step the playing surface of their choice. Those injuries are part of the game, and they don't discriminate based on sport, gender or fitness level.
 
However, there is the rare injury that brings with it the dreaded "season-ending" label, the unforgiving torn ligament or cartilage or broken bone that threatens to rip away a piece of the very identity that an athlete holds so dear. Regardless of when, where and how those strike, what follows is a long road to recovery filled with physical and mental setbacks that can break even the strongest athletes.    
 
Such is what happened to men's basketball captain Damarion Geter, who after more than a year-long layoff is back in a Longwood jersey with newfound perspective on the game.
 
A three-year team captain and former Big South All-Academic Team selection, Geter was the first signee of Longwood men's basketball coach Jayson Gee's first recruiting class when he took over the program in 2013-14. The 6-8 forward from Dayton, Ohio, immediately became a bedrock of the lineup and appeared in every single game of his first two seasons, drawing 31 starts as a sophomore.
 
But in the lead-up to Geter's junior season, in which he was supposed to team with all-conference big man Lotanna Nwogbo and Drexel transfer Khris Lane to form one of the best frontcourt combinations in the Big South, that rare, unforgiving injury bug struck.
 
During an open gym session with his teammates during the summer of 2015, Geter tweaked his right shoulder. The injury lingered, as did the pain. An MRI revealed a torn labrum that would require season-ending surgery, sending Longwood's bedrock to the sidelines for the entirety of what was shaping up to to be his most promising season, and Longwood's too.
 
The news was a big blow for a Lancer team that had earned a sixth-place predicted finish in the Big South Preseason Coaches Poll, the program's highest such projection in Longwood's five-year Big South tenure. When Geter finally underwent surgery, it forced to the bench a player who Gee had relied on to play, literally, every position on the floor.
 
"His character, his high basketball IQ and his versatility are what make him so unique," said Gee, who inked Geter out of Dunbar High School in 2013. "He's the consummate glue player. He's that guy that can do a little bit of everything and is extremely unselfish. He has the size, rebounding ability and defensive ability of a forward, but he can handle the ball like a guard. He certainly is the most valuable player on our team because of the things he does and the way he impacts winning without scoring."
 
However, it wasn't just Geter's on-court abilities and versatility Longwood would miss that season. After being elected a captain by his teammates as a still somewhat greenhorn sophomore in 2014-15, Gee's "point forward" was primed for a significant leadership role as a junior as the closest thing Gee had to an on-court coach.
 
But when that small piece of torn cartilage in his shoulder ripped away his on-court duties, the transition from starting forward to student assistant coach was a difficult one for Geter. That became even harder to stomach when the Lancers struggled to a 4-9 record in non-conference play with Geter relegated to the sidelines. The team's disappointing start had as much to do with the extended losses of several other key players, including senior starters Leron Fisher, Shaquille Johnson and Tra'Vaughn White, but Geter still felt a disproportionate share of the blame.
 
"I don't think I was that good of a captain last season," Geter said of his early role on the sidelines. "I felt limited in what I could do to help the team, and I felt like I ended up paying more attention to my own struggles instead of worrying about the team. That's not something I'm proud of, but at the same time, it showed me that my leadership was actually important.
 
"There were times when my teammates needed me to step up and say something, to point out something they were doing or not doing, and I didn't do that. I struggled trying to use my voice when I knew they were out there sweating and I wasn't. But as the season went on, there were times when I actually did speak up, and they responded to me like I'd been on the floor with them the whole game. It made me value my leadership and my voice with the team. It showed me my real value in being a captain and a veteran, that my teammates still listen to me even when I'm not at my best physically."
 
That realization culminated in Longwood's regular season finale at Big South rival Radford in which the Lancers rallied from a 20-point deficit in the final 14 minutes to stun the Highlanders 92-81. Geter finally found himself on the bench, contributing in huddles and helping Gee and his staff pick out Radford's weaknesses.
 
The dramatic win at Radford guaranteed Longwood its best conference finish of the Big South era and gave the Lancers a wealth of momentum that they rode into a first-round win over Charleston Southern in the Big South Tournament. And while Geter watched those two games and Longwood's season-ending 89-78 loss to No. 1 High Point in the quarterfinals from the bench, he came away from his first year on the sideline with something he never would have if not for the shoulder injury.
 
"Being out, it was really a struggle mentally," Geter said. "It was just a constant battle trying not to feel defeated. As an athlete, you're used to playing. When that gets taken away, it's hard to adjust. I know I had a hard time, but it made me appreciate the game more."
 
The time off benefited Geter in another way, too. Without hours of grueling practices to siphon away his body mass during the season, Geter hit the weight room hard. By the start of the following summer, he had transformed his once-wiry 215-pound frame into a solid 235 with strength gains to match.
 
"My jersey felt a little tighter when I finally put it back on," he said.
 
He put that newfound strength on display in his 2016 debut against preseason foe Hampden-Sydney, outmuscling his frontcourt counterparts for six rebounds, three steals and four points as the Lancers pulled out a 93-85 win in overtime. He ripped two of those steals out of the hands of two Tigers in a span of just 30 seconds late in the second half during a 17-7 run that the Lancers used to overcome an 11-point deficit and force overtime.
 
"After waiting so long to get back on the court, it was a good feeling just being front of a crowd," he said. "Being in that environment made me feel like I was back at home. I missed it a lot, even though I didn't perform the way I wanted to. Just being out there, you forget what it feels like."
 
Geter is now fully recovered from the shoulder injury that robbed him of a full year of basketball. He was granted a fifth year of eligibility by the NCAA, allowing him the opportunity to play two more years of college basketball. One game into the 2016-17 season, he noted that he has a long way to go in terms of conditioning. His love for the game, however, has never been stronger.

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