Amie Just: Potts' injury a gut punch in what could be a special Nebraska women's season (2024)

The precise moment is seared into the memories of all present Tuesday night.

Less than six minutes remained in the second quarter, and the No. 21 Nebraska women's basketball team was getting back on transition defense. Last season’s Big Ten freshman of the year Natalie Potts was getting into position in the post when her knee moved in a way it shouldn’t have.

Potts crumbled to the court, grabbing her left leg after the noncontact injury — crying in agony. Her anguish could be heard throughout the entire arena, prompting the DJ to turn the music back on to drown out her cries.

Everyone feared the worst. It was impossible not to. The scene on the court was just heartbreaking.

Those fears were confirmed Wednesday when Potts announced via social media that she tore her ACL and that she will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season.

“Nothing has stopped me before and I surely won’t let this stop me now,” Potts wrote. “This journey will certainly have its challenges but these are challenges that I’m ready to face. As the road to recovery begins I just want to thank everyone for their kind words and prayers. I’m surrounded by the best and I can’t wait to support my amazing teammates from the sideline. I’ll be back better and stronger than ever before.”

This is just devastating.

Potts was off to a phenomenal start. Heading into the North Alabama game, Potts was averaging 17.5 points per contest. Sure, it was early and a small sample size, but she was on pace to do incredible things this season.

I mean, her stat line against South Dakota was just a peek into what was possible: 22 points in 23 minutes on 8-of-10 shooting with seven rebounds.

Luckily for Potts, she’s all but guaranteed a medical redshirt. The criteria there: played in no more than 30% of contests, must occur before the completion of the first half of the season and must be season-ending and verified.

Luckily for Potts, she’s around countless women who’ve been through this. Both Allison Weidner and Kennadi Williams had back-to-back torn ACLs. And those two have already embraced Potts, as they both walked back to the locker room with her in the immediate aftermath of her injury on Tuesday.

But it wasn’t supposed to be like this.

This was supposed to be a special season. Not just for Potts alone but for Potts and Alexis Markowski together. They were such an exciting post-tandem last season, and for them to not get the opportunity to run it back just feels wrong.

Getting one more shot to play with Potts was one of the things Markowski looked forward to the most about this season.

“I love playing with Nat,” Markowski told the Journal Star in September. “She just has improved so much from a leadership standpoint. She’s just so competitive. She makes big plays when you need someone to make big plays. She’s funny. We always have a good time together. We really balance each other out, and she’s gonna have a really big year this year.”

Sigh. Dang it.

Dang it. Dang it. Dang it.

But as Potts said in her social media post, she is going to be there for her Husker sisters — just in a different role.

Even on Tuesday, that was evident.

Potts emerged from the locker room in the second half, navigating the courtside red carpet on silver crutches in her black sweatpants to sit in the second row of the bench area. While sitting there, Potts alternated between wiping the tears from her face and raising her arms to cheer for her teammates.

“We’re a family,” junior guard Callin Hake said after the game before the extent of Potts’ injury was known. “We play for each other and with each other.”

She’ll be back. She’ll be back stronger than ever.

It’s just gutting that it happened like this.