Morgantown, West Virginia – When West Virginia redshirt freshman forward Isaiah Cottrell suffered a devastating season-ending injury in December, it was a huge blow for the Mountaineers.
In a statement released by West Virginia University following his injury on December 29th in a game against Northeastern, Bob Huggins said, “Everyone associated with Mountaineer basketball is saddened by the news that we received on Isaiah. Isaiah is a great teammate, a wonderful kid and a hard worker who will do everything ask of him to get back to 100 percent and back on the court.”
Following his successful surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon in his left leg, it was unclear how long it would take for Cottrell to be fully ready to play again.
Huggins gave a brief update on Cottrell back in January, saying, “Isaiah’s already started doing whatever it is they allow him to do at this point, which obviously isn’t very much right now,” Huggins said. “Isaiah wants to play and something I love is that he wants to do it in a West Virginia uniform. He wants to play at West Virginia, he wants to represent the state He loves the people, loves the state. He’s on a mission to be able to come back and play.”
Cottrell was on an absolute mission to be ready to play at the start of the 2021-2022 season. A torn Achilles tendon is a tricky injury and recovery time varies from anywhere to 6 to 12 months. Cottrell recently reported that he’s been cleared by doctors to return to full basketball activities and will be “full go” for the start of season.
This injury is not gonna define me
— Isaiah Cottrell (@IsaiahCottrell) April 29, 2021
Although Cottrell only averaged 1.8 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game through his first nine games, Huggins described him as the team’s “most skilled big man” and has an incredibly bright future.
Isaiah Cottrell is back, better than ever and is primed for a monster breakout season in his second season in Morgantown!
