| | Associated Press
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Tasha Pointer could have talked about
Rutgers' chances for a national championship.
The topic rarely came up. It didn't seem important, not after
Pointer spent weeks this summer wondering whether she would ever
play basketball again after being shot in the left eye by a
teen-ager with a BB gun near her home in Chicago.
It took weeks for the senior point guard to regain her sight,
and it was even longer before the BB could be removed.
Surgery to remove the BB was performed last month. Today the BB sits on her desk at school in a plastic cup as a daily reminder of how life can change in the blink of an eye.
"I just started playing last Saturday," Pointer said Wednesday
during the team's media day. "That in itself is amazing to know
that with one blink of an eye I could have been blind in my left
eye and I probably would not have been able to play the game I have
loved so much.
"It's hard when you think of 13 long years of playing
basketball and all the sudden it can be taken away from you in a
couple of seconds just because someone felt the need to do
something stupid. I guess that was his way of having fun."
Pointer, who helped Rutgers to the Final Four last season and was one of 10 finalists for the Nancy Lieberman-Cline award as the nation's top point guard, talked about the July 11 incident.
She was walking home with a friend from a playground pickup
game. As she neared her home, she was behind a couple of other
women.
Things get a little fuzzy at that point.
The teen-ager got into an argument with the women in front of
Pointer and fired his BB gun at them. It hit Pointer in the left
eye, tearing the outer muscle of her eyelid and lodging against the
eyeball. The inner muscle was not torn.
"The whole thing was scary," Pointer said. "I didn't know how
much I was bleeding. I knew I was shot. I knew I couldn't see, but
I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know if I would be blind for
sure. I wasn't even thinking about playing basketball. I was
worried about my vision."
Pointer put her hand over her eye, walked home and then was
taken to an emergency room. She was treated and released a couple
of hours later. Police arrested two men in connection with the
shooting.
Weeks later, her vision partially returned. With time, the
blurriness improved and now everything is clear.
What hasn't gone away is the frustration and anger Pointer
experiences when she recalls the incident.
"I could probably find the kid who did it to me, but what's the
point to get emotionally worked up for something that has passed,"
she said. "I think most importantly I forgave him and God forgave
him. I have to move on. I can't dwell on the past. Everything
happens for a reason. Therefore I think this season will be
great."
Pointer will have to wear goggles while playing because she is
at greater risk for injury if hit in the eye again. Getting used to
them has been tough, because they hurt her face and they fog.
However, the incident and another involving coach C. Vivian
Stringer's 16-year-old son, Justin, have taught Pointer to
appreciate what she has.
Stringer's son was involved in an automobile accident in early
September and was in a coma for two days. He is just about ready to
return to high school.
"There have been so many life lessons since July 11 to today,"
Pointer said. "No one can ever imagine how much pain I have been
through, but at the same time how much joy I had because it taught
me something."
As far as basketball, Pointer's goals haven't changed.
"Our goal has always been to win the national championship," she said.
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