Hamlin's Kami Wadsworth excited for return to the basketball court after suffering ACL injury

SIOUX FALLS — Coming off a standout sophomore year for the University of Sioux Falls women’s basketball team, Hamlin graduate Kami Wadsworth had her junior season cut short before it even started.

On Nov. 3, 2025, Wadsworth and the Cougars were gearing up to start their season with an exhibition game at the University of Utah. Late in the fourth quarter, however, Wadsworth would suffer a season-ending ACL tear in her right knee.

“I was in transition and I had just planted like I've done a million other times and then I had felt my knee shift and I had fallen and I was like, ‘Oh no, this can't be good,’ “ Wadsworth said.

Wadsworth and her parents, Travis and Michelle, drove 14 hours back from Salt Lake City to avoid her knee swelling and had met with doctor for an MRI the next day.

Prior to the MRI, the doctors were optimistic about know ligament damage and had thought she would return to the court that season, but the MRI confirmed the worst for the 5-foot-11 forward.

“I was expecting for the worst and then I had kind of gotten my hopes up and I was like, oh shoot, this is the new reality,” Wadsworth said.

She got surgery a short time later and has been recovering ever since. Wadsworth, who is also a thrower on the track and field team for the Coo, also forced her to miss the whole spring outdoor season as well.

Between her standout basketball career for the Chargers in high school and her college career in Sioux Falls, Wadsworth had never dealt with a long-term injury like this before, but it’s been more challenging mentally than physically.

“I've rolled ankles before and had to play through stuff like that, but nothing where it's like, this is season ending. Just mentally, I would say it's definitely way harder mentally than physically.

“It's just like, will I ever be what I was again, and will my muscle ever come back,” Wadsworth said. “You don't believe it until you actually go through surgery and it's like, where did my leg go? Just the rebuilding of that in itself is crazy. And then once you're back, okay, now you have to trust it. That mental battle of, will it happen again?”

But leaning on her faith has helped immensely through the recovery process.

“The kind of stance I've taken from it is like, if that's God's plan for me, then that's what's going to happen,” Wadsworth said. “So, I haven't really been too nervous at all to play. It's kind of just been, they said I'm good to go, and I believe that.”

Wadsworth has worked tirelessly throughout the offseason with physical therapy three times a week to build the strength back in her leg.

That extensive work will all pay off tonight in the Cougars’ season-opener against the University of Nebraska Kearney. With no minute restrictions, it’ll be Wadsworth’s first non-exhibition action since March 2025 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament.

“It's going to mean the world,” said Wadsworth on making her return to the court. “I mean that’s something that I just keep telling myself like the recovery and everything is like whatever God brings you to he'll bring you through and like just to see his faithfulness and like it's just going to be such a joy.”

The injury has even changed her perspective on how to approach each and every game.

“Even like before I got hurt it was always, I feel like I need to be the best player, I need to score this many points or whatever it may be,” said Wadsworth. “And like now, I don't feel any pressure or anything like that, just genuinely I'm happy to be back out there with my team again and just know we get such a privilege and like just the mindset shift for sure.”

But she hopes to continue building a college career that’s already made an impact in just two seasons. The two-time all-conference selection set school records in points (585) and points per game (18.9) as a sophomore and was named the NSIC Freshman of the year.

The Cougars were picked third in the preseason NSIC coaches poll highlighted by Wadsworth’s return.

“I think we have a lot of girls with experience and so we’ll have a lot of depth which is going to help,” said Wadsworth. “I have high hopes for us. I think our ceiling is high, and I think that we all love each other, and we just really do have a great group this year. We're all bought in and we're hungry and we want to go see what we can do.”

Wadsworth has already decided she’ll continue her basketball career next season as a fifth-year senior while getting her degree in elementary education as well.