Mayer: Dr. Magee great reason for student-athlete to pick KU
Kansas University has a wealth of effective athletic recruiting tools. One of the best, which should grab special attention from mommies, daddies and kids, is a somewhat subtle benefit.
Subtle, maybe, but vital in countless cases.
That would be the excellent sports medicine and training operation under the leadership of Dr. Larry Magee, who holds multiple degrees from KU and is board-certified in both family practice and sports medicine.
No medic gets “board” approval in anything without a lot of intellect, hard work and ability. Dr. Magee has worked since 1988 at his alma mater. He was first hired as a team physician and has moved up the ladder impressively.
When a youngster, male or female, is sought by KU, all sorts of issues are addressed regarding the future of the prospect. Understandably, emphasis is on academics, sports participation, living facilities, paying bills and the like.
Young athletes and their families often have attitudes of invulnerability, seldom considering that there are going to be times when the physical machine needs something ranging from a little help to major aid. Take basketball star Wayne Simien’s problems, most recently his thumb injury.
If KU isn’t doing a heavy sales job about the fact its athletes get excellent care through a wide range of talent and sources, it’s missing the boat. No kid should be brought in ever-fearful that he or she might become a hospital case. But it’s doggone good for them to be advised they’ll get the best if they do.
They need to know there are quality people like Dr. Magee and his aides along with a distinguished medical center and innumerable consulting venues. One of the best traits that I’ve seen is that they are smart and confident enough to say “I don’t know”, if they don’t, and call for additional guidance.
In the case of Simien’s shoulder injury two years ago, there were eminently qualified local advisers like bonesmith Jeff Randall, who helped babysit Wayne through his operational ordeal in New York.
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One of the few sad aspects of the program, certainly for my wife and me, is the fact that Dr. Laird Ingham who worked so long in the program has moved on to a position with the Audie Murphy veterans hospital in San Antonio. Dr. Ingham long was our medical teddy bear and security blanket. That’s a tough loss for any town and program to absorb. But Dr. Magee and the gang will adjust.
Ever seen the athletic treatment and training facilities at KU? The Kansas environs are better than you’ll find at a lot of small-city hospitals. Most important, there are dedicated and qualified people such as head football trainer Carol Jarosky to make the tools and the sites work.
OK, I’ll get some notes about how old and archaic I am. Let ’em roll. I recall in the 1950s when Dean Nesmith was “it” for athletic training and treatment. Nesmith had the incomparable osteopathic skills of basketball whiz Phog Allen for advice and backup, even treatment, especially for pesky sacroiliacs. A lot of local doctors pitched in as “team physicians.”
Yet for the most part, Deaner, long a shining icon in his field, was the be-all and end-all and it’s hard to describe how terrific he was. Just ask some of his patients. I’ll never understand how he could do so much, so often with so little. He also helped at times as a football assistant (he was a former KU lineman) and was regarded by The Phogger as an unofficial basketball aide.
I’ll never forget how Nesmith celebrated the day he found out KU was going to provide him with a second whirlpool bath. Almost like he’d died and had gone to heaven. Aching jocks were pretty pleased, too.
Things changed drastically through the years, so much for the better, because of the Larry Magees, Larry Inghams, Randalls, Jaroskys, Lynn Bottses, Mark Cairnses and their ilk!
Recently, I’ve been to several social gatherings with Charlie Hoag. How sad that he came too early to receive treatment and repair available nowadays. Had modern wizards worked their magic on his bad knee after a football injury in 1952, Charlie, who’d been an Olympic cage star in Helsinki, might have helped KU win a second straight NCAA court crown in ’53.
Heisman Trophy winner Billy Vessels of Oklahoma was a 1950-52 contemporary of Hoag and Nebraska’s Bobby Reynolds. Vessels wrecked a knee as a junior. OU had a visionary orthopedist named Don O’Donohue at its disposal, Vessels’ knee was restructured and he roared back to win the Heisman in ’52. NU’s Reynolds also had knee problems but they didn’t have an O’Donohue, either.
When Hoag was hurt at Kansas State in 1952, he was told there wasn’t much of a problem, “shake it off, kid” and keep running. All the while he was chewing up torn ligaments. How sad to see him try so valiantly to perform in the season finale, a loss, at Missouri, and limp off with a knee that never would be quite right.
Yet there’s a beautiful ending to this and other stories like it, even though the Hoags and Reynoldses never got to share in it. Sports medicine has evolved light years from what it was 50 years ago because of the efforts and guidance of people like KU’s Larry Magee.
Athletes and their families at KU ought to thank their lucky stars that there is such a program if and when they need it.
If KU isn’t using its sports medicine program to sell youngsters on the advantages of becoming Jayhawks, it sure as heck should be.