Toledo men's basketball coach Tod Kowalczyk has only had to deal with a few torn ACL injuries in his 30-plus year coaching career.
He said it is hard to imagine anyone has handled the rehab and recovery process — and the mental grind that comes with it — as well as Toledo sophomore center AJ Edu has this past year.
“He's a very positive guy who has great faith,” Kowalcyzk said. “It just feels like this is something that is going to make him better. His dad always tells us that it is a part of his journey and let's make him better for the journey.”
Edu suffered the torn ACL in Greece in a U19 FIBA World Cup game for the Philippines. He said the initial few months were the most difficult to deal with both physically and mentally.
“I was struggling to walk and wasn't able to run at all,” Edu said. “I slowly gained that back, but it was tough for sure. The PT staff did a really good job, and it really went by pretty quick.”
Edu is nearing the end of the rehab process with the injury and said his knee is progressing well.
“It's been seven or eight months since the injury, so it's getting to the time when it's almost fully recovered,” Edu said. “It's probably about 80 percent. I'm still doing rehab every day. They sent me a whole program, so I just keep working on that. I'm seeing improvements and it shouldn't be too long until I'm back.”
Toledo associate AD for sports medicine Brian Jones and physical therapist Sarah Sherman have been sending Edu workouts and keeping in touch with him via phone or FaceTime while Edu is confined to a dorm room due to the coronavirus.
Unable to make a trip back home to England to be with his family, Edu is with other international students remaining on the Toledo campus.
“He's really ready to go and he would probably be on the court this spring doing individual workouts,” Jones said. “We just really have one last thing to do and that is get him in the lab and do some peak strength testing.”
Left on his own to continue his rehab, Kowalczyk has no doubt Edu is putting in the necessary work on his own.
“There's no lack of trust with AJ,” Kowalczyk said. “We know exactly what he's doing and how hard he is working. That's how he was raised. He's an unbelievable kid with a great family. Everything we ask him to do, he does and then some.”
Edu has been using the year away from competition to sharpen his basketball skills and work on his upper-body strength.
Kowalczyk said Edu has transformed his overall strength and has done a lot of skill work with assistant coach Jeff Massey.
“I've been working very hard during this period,” Edu said. “I've taken it as a year to focus on my basketball skills and focus on my strength. I think I've done that well so far and hopefully the work will show when I come back.”
Edu was named to the Mid-American Conference all-freshman team in the 2018-19 season after averaging 3.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks in 14.3 minutes per game. His 57 blocked shots were the most ever in a single season by a Toledo freshman.
“I thought he was a really good defender as a freshman,” Kowalczyk said. “And that is so rare that a freshman is a good defender. I think he has the chance to be an elite defender. He has elite shotblocking ability. He has great toughness and is really good in ball screens. He's a good defensive rebounder. He brings a little more versatility than we've been accustomed to.”
This year was challenging at times for Edu, knowing when Toledo was struggling that he would've been able to help.
“It's just as simple as not being able to play games,” Edu said. “I'm there to support my teammates and encourage them, but it does get tough sometimes sitting out and not being able to do anything on the court. I had to find other ways to impact my team and that came in being a leader on the bench and supporting my teammates.”
Kowalczyk was in Greece with Edu for the U19 FIBA World Cup and the injury, which happened in the first game of the tournament, was initially devastating for Edu and the Toledo program, as well as Edu’s chance to represent the Philippines in the tournament.
But through his hard work and positive outlook, Kowalczyk thinks Edu and the Toledo program might be better off in the future because of the injury.
“He's been unbelievably diligent throughout the entire process,” Kowalczyk said. “When it happened, I was with him in Greece. My immediate reaction was this may end up being a good thing for him. Obviously, we knew it was a bad thing for the team, but it could be a good thing for him and the future of the program with him getting a fifth year.
“... I feel like he's going to come back more than 100 percent and bigger and better than ever.”
First Published April 9, 2020, 7:22 p.m.
