Kareem Rush strolled down the dark tunnel leading to the Hearnes Center just as he had so many times.
Only Wednesday wasn’t like those other times. Rush, who had surgery in the morning to repair a torn ligament at the base of his left thumb sustained in Monday’s loss to Oklahoma State, was still coping with the reality that he would not play against Kansas State. Or any other team this season.
“I won’t be back this year,” Rush said. “Even if I get the cast off in four weeks, the hand would be really weak.”
And then Rush said the words that he would repeat later in a mass media conference, words Missouri fans needed to hear.
“I’m coming back for next year,” Rush said. “Even if I didn’t make that clear before, I’m definitely coming back for my junior year. I’ve got a lot of stuff to prove and a lot of things to accomplish with this team. This could be that silver lining to make me come back, but I always thought I was coming back.
“Maybe if I was [going to be] a top-10 pick this year, I could be a top-five pick next year.”
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Rush was wheeled into an operating theater about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. During the surgery, which lasted about an hour, a small bone chip was removed from the base of his thumb and the ligament was reattached.
“I knew it was bad that night in Stillwater,” Rush said. “I couldn’t stop shaking. The pain was really bad. I knew when I got home that the next day I wasn’t going to get good news.
“I hoped that it was just badly strained or a fracture that I could play with. I could have played, but I didn’t want to risk my long-term career.”
Yes, Rush could have tried to play through the injury.
“Ultimately, it was my decision,” Rush said. “I was at a high risk of hurting it even more if I kept playing.”
Pat Smith, the MU team physician, advised Rush not to take the risk of playing with the detached ligament.
“I’ll come back 100 percent,” Rush said.
Rush said his teammates didn’t want to believe it when he told them he was out for the season.
“It hit them kind of hard,” Rush said.
It hit Rush kind of hard.
“It really hurts to be hurt,” Rush said, “but maybe our guys will grow up a little faster.”