Lawrence High junior Justin Roberts (5) makes a move between an Wichita East double team by Terence Caw (14) and Issac Fralin (25) during the 2015 Kansas 6A State championship game at Koch Arena in Wichita. The Lions fell to the Blue Aces, 58-43, and finished the season with a 23-2 record. Both losses came from Wichita East.

Lawrence High basketball standout Justin Roberts was looking forward to the last AAU basketball season of his career.

He was set to play for one of the top teams in the nation, Kansas City Run GMC, and he’d be playing in front of plenty of Div. I college basketball coaches.

Then disaster struck in his first game, in an AAU tournament in New Orleans, on April 10. The LHS senior-to-be tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee and will be out for about six months.

Roberts hopes to return to the court between the end of November and early January for his final season with the Lions.

“I was just going up for a layup, and I stepped off two feet, and there was a wet spot, so my ankle turned, and then my knee just caved in,” Roberts said. “I dislocated my kneecap. And they said I sprained my MCL (medial collateral ligament) and my PCL (posterior cruciate ligament). So, yeah, pretty much all the ligaments were a little damaged, but the one I tore was my ACL.”

Roberts underwent surgery at Lawrence Memorial Hospital on May 26, and surgeons noted he didn’t tear his meniscus, which helps speed up the recovery process by about a month.

“Instead of being on crutches for six weeks, I’ll be on them for two,” Roberts said.

Roberts immediately knew it was a bad injury when he fell to the court. He flew home from New Orleans the following day after a visit to a local hospital.

“Everybody was trying to be positive, but I pretty much knew,” Roberts said. “I tried to stand up, and as soon as I stood up, I tried to put weight on it, and I saw my kneecap kind of like move over, so I knew something was loose. I knew that it was my ACL by the way my knee went.”

But instead of sulking, Roberts remains upbeat and confident that he will make a big comeback when he’s back on the court. It’s the first major injury of his career, though he did miss six weeks because of a broken foot several years ago.

The summer before a basketball player’s senior year is widely regarded as the best chance to earn college scholarships, and Roberts hopes missing the summer circuit won’t hurt him too much. He currently holds scholarship offers from Lehigh, Loyola (Maryland) and UMKC, along with interest from several other schools.

A first-team All-Sunflower League pick and second-team all-state selection last season, Roberts averaged 17.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game for the Lions, shooting a team-best 44 percent from behind the three-point line. LHS finished as the Class 6A state runner-up with a 23-2 record.

“Yeah, it’s tough,” Roberts said. “I still have plenty of opportunities to play, so I’m happy for that. But that definitely is a little setback when it comes to recruiting.

“I don’t know if I’ll get any other offers because they haven’t seen me play. Maybe once school ball starts up and if they come watch me play, and I play well, then hopefully I will.”

For the first steps of his rehab, Roberts tries to make small progress each week.

“Right now, they just have me trying to do exercises, like trying to bend my leg,” Roberts said. “Just the little stuff, the basic things. In about two weeks, I’ll get off of the crutches and hopefully be put in a better brace where I could bend my knee a little bit. It’s just going to be really gradual.”

For now, he’s mostly stuck in his house while he tries to recover. He did travel with his AAU team to New York, before his surgery, and he hopes to go with his summer teammates to a tournament in July in Kansas City.

Similar to how he slashes past defenders, Roberts is ready to attack his rehab and try to get back on the court as soon as he can.

“All of my friends have come over the last couple of days just to bring me food or just hang out,” he said. “All I can really do is sit at home, so they are just trying to support me during this time.

“It’s tough, but I’m just really focused on getting back and playing. Whatever it takes, really. Just get to the rehab, and I’ll be fine.”