Small Ball roundup: Blair Prowse making comeback from strange injury

SALT LAKE CITY — Season-ending injuries hadn't afflicted Westminster guard Blair Prowse in his basketball career until a complex ankle sprain quickly turned into a malady that eventually robbed him of all but eight games of his junior season a year ago. Prowse felt blindsided by how everything unfolded.

He just assumed he would always be ready to play from one season to the next.

"I never sat out a season in any sport I've ever played before," Prowse said. "You always feel a lot of empathy for guys that have had to deal with it. Then once you experience it, it's tough. It makes you miss the game."

Entering last season, Prowse had already established himself as an important element in the Griffins' offense. During his sophomore year, Prowse ranked third on the team in scoring at 12.9 points per game and ranked 10th in the NAIA in 3-point field goal percentage at 44.5 percent.

With Geoff Payne joining Westminster as an inside force, Prowse had the potential to make an even greater impact on the perimeter. But an ankle sprain sidelined him early in the season, and things quickly went from bad to worse in a short time.

His ankle injury took on a life of its own when Prowse tried to play on it a few weeks after the original sprain. A blood clot formed in his leg, and Prowse ended up being treated with blood thinners to eradicate the clot. He was not allowed to participate in any contact sport — including basketball — while taking the medication.

Being afflicted by a blood clot proved to be a strange and frustrating turn of events for Prowse, who had no prior family history indicating he might develop one.

"I was in the hospital, and the doctors didn't believe it," Prowse said. "I had half of the doctors in the emergency room looking at me because it's just so unheard of in a healthy 23-year-old kid."

In 10 games, the ex-Bingham star is averaging a team-best 16.8 points and is shooting 35.4 percent from 3-point range.

EAGLES FLYING HIGH: Things continue to look bright for the College of Eastern Utah in men's basketball this season. The Eagles kept their unblemished record in the Scenic West Athletic Conference intact with a 101-80 victory over Colorado Northwestern on Saturday. Isaiah Williams led the way for CEU with 27 points.