Dominika Paurova was a potential starter for UK this season before injuring her knee for a second time. (UK Athletics Photo)
Dominika Paurová not only had time to work on small things to help improve her basketball game and get in extra work in the weight room while she was recovering from a knee injury last season but she also learned something about herself.
“I learned to be way more patient, give myself a little bit of grace,” said the Kentucky 6-foot-1 redshirt sophomore guard.
Now she’s going to have to learn to be even more patient after UK announced Thursday that she tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the same knee and is out indefinitely.
The Czech Republic native played her freshman season at Oregon State and averaged 5.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.
Paurova told me earlier that the culture she found at Kentucky might have been even better than she anticipated because even though she was not playing, she did not get homesick for the Czech Republic.
“Honestly, I spoke with my friends back home the least out of all the years I have been here last year which is just proof of how special the group here was for me. I was spending way more time with them,” she said. “My friends (in the Czech Republic) still watched games even though I wasn’t playing. They were supporting our team from the Czech Republic, and they’re excited to see me there this year.”
Coach Kenny Brooks was excited to see her play, too, knowing she helped Oregon State reach the 2024 Elite Eight. She’s a versatile player who could play multiple positions and has always been a gym rat because her father, Martin Paur, played professionally in a Czech league while her mom played just for fun “but loves basketball” as much as anyone.
“I have been in the gym since I was in diapers. While I was in the gym all the time, my parents didn’t want to force basketball on us so I did every other sport possible,” Paurova said.
However, basketball was her sport of choice after getting her college career off to an impressive start, she now apparently will have to wait another year to play for Kentucky.
3 Responses
This is just devastating news. Best wishes for a successful recovery.
Good luck with the rehab Dominika.
Paurova was a favorite of mine when at Oregon State because she knew the importance of penetrating and getting into the paint with the ball, as opposed to so many of our point guards, and she didn't even play point guard. I have been checking the Kentucky box score since she left OSU to see when she would be back, and now I find out this bad news. This proves there is no god, or at least a compassionate one.
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