Tonia Witt/RiseUp Sports
Surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament went as well as it could for 6-5 Danville Christian Academy senior Grace Mbugua and she’s already started rehabilitation to get back on the court next season.
Mbugua injured her knee at a basketball camp in Tennessee in early June but DCA coach Billy Inmon said her surgeon told them “the surgery could not have gone any better.”
Mbugua ranked among the top 10 in the state in scoring (25.7 points per game, fifth), rebounding (15.4 per game, second) and field-goal shooting (61.8 percent, seventh) during her junior season. She also averaged 6.6 blocks per game.
Mbugua has led the state in rebounding three straight years and has 1,527 career boards along with 2,007 career points. She was on pace to become the first Kentucky girl to have 2,000 career points and rebounds before her injury.
She established herself as one of the state’s best players with a spectacular state tournament game against Cooper when she had 34 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks despite playing the entire second half with four fouls. That put her on even more recruiting radars and she’s close to cutting her list of potential schools to eight.
Inmon said no schools had backed off her recruiting since her injury and she recently made unofficial visits to both Louisville and Kentucky, two schools expected to be on her final eight.
“She went to UK for a visit and then on to West Virginia that night to have her surgery the next day,” Inmon said.
New Kentucky coach Kenny Brooks and his staff didn’t need long to reach out to Mbugua once they took over the UK program.
“The (Kentucky) coaching staff seemed really great. The kids on the team seemed like super high character kids,” Inmon said. “I felt like they knew Grace’s value and that was good. She was there before as a seventh-grader when they (former coaches) were recruiting her.
“I have been very impressed by Kentucky and everybody that has not let her injury change anything. That means a lot.”
Inmon senses that Mbugua “really likes” Brooks a lot.
“It was not any one thing in particular she said but she really enjoyed her visit,” the DCA coach said.
He said Louisville coach Jeff Walz and his staff were “super great” and also impressed him.
“I didn’t know that much about the Louisville program. I was super impressed with the staff and facilities,” he said.
While proximity to home can influence some athletes when they pick a college, Mbugua came from her home in Kenya at age 12 without knowing what she would find in Danville.
“When you are 12 years old and can go across the world and don’t know a soul, I don’t think for her as an 18-year-old that distance will not be a deciding factor,” Inmon said. “I think with her it will be a lot of prayers and hoping something opens up and makes it the right fit.
“I don’t know what that will be. I don’t envy her trying to make the decision. I do envy the great opportunities she has ahead of her but I don’t know what the deciding factor will be for her.”
Inmon knows she’s “very interested” in the players’ character and wants to find a family atmosphere.
“Everything is nice facility-wise everywhere she has been but she is staying focused on character and wants it to be like a family and wants to win,” Inmon said. “Everywhere she goes has all the bells and whistles.”
Mbugua still plans to make her college choice before DCA starts its season even though there is no exact timeline for when she will be able to play — or if she will play.
“I don’t think she is going to be out long. She may not be ready at the start of the year but she is already working so hard,” Inmon said. “She is tough and believes in prayer. She also wants to help us win and also pick a school where she’ll win.”
