Air Force basketball loses promising forward Ethan Michael for second straight year

August 1st, 2011, 2:18 pm · 4 Comments · posted by Frank Schwab

For the second straight year, Air Force has lost forward Ethan Michael to a knee injury before classes even started at the academy.

Last summer, Michael tore his anterior cruciate ligament during basic training and missed the season. Last week, Michael tore the same ACL in a pickup game at Air Force, and will miss another year.

“It’s a blow,” coach Jeff Reynolds said. “He’s a very talented big body.”

The Falcons also lost Zach Bohannon, who transferred, so the frontcourt has taken some hits in the offseason. Forward Chase Kammerer had meniscus surgery recently and will be out four-to-six weeks, Reynolds said, which doesn’t help.

Michael, who is 6-8, impressed the coaches when he was able to return to limited drills this past spring, and Reynolds said he was planning on Michael being in his top eight rotation this season, if he continued to perform well in the fall. It will be a difficult road for Michael to bounce back from two ACL surgeries and be a major contributor at Air Force before his eligibility ends.

“We felt he’d make a contribution last year before he got hurt,” Reynolds said. “He and our training staff worked extremely hard for him to come back. It’s unfortunate.”

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About this blog …

I'm Frank Schwab, Air Force beat reporter for The Gazette. I've been at the paper since 2003, and covered the Broncos for seven seasons. I covered the University of Wisconsin in the late 1990s, so I'm well versed in running football teams (Ron Dayne) and defensive basketball teams (Dick Bennett). I love to chat on www.twitter.com/GazetteAirForce, and will respond to comments and emails at frank.schwab@gazette.com.

For more coverage, visit The Gazette's Air Force Academy Sports page

rjp says:

August 1, 2011 at 4:46 pm

Sad news…I had high expectations for Ethan…best to him and his future endeavors and fast recovery both to him and to Chase. Looking for that number one backup behind Taylor Broekhuis and I believe both of these guys were in the mix. Adam Brakeville is the next ‘big’ on the list along with the freshman Olesinski 6’9′/220# from the prep school and Davidson 6’9′/196# (before basic summer!!!) a direct in from Montrose, CO.

Good luck to all…can’t wait for tipoff.

Frank Schwab says:

August 2, 2011 at 9:07 am

I like Brakeville as a player – just needs to become better offensively so he isn’t a liability on that end of the floor.

August 2, 2011 at 7:54 pm

Frank…agree 100%. Adam was know in high school as a fierce rebounder….something we lacked last year. ‘If’ he can contrbute on both ends on the boards and can find a touch inside 10feet, then he can be adequate scorer on the offensive end and, hopefully more so, can become a distrbuter of the ball. Maybe a combination of his experience as a junior in the system (albeit not much gametime) alternating with the youth of the freshmen mentioned above, can provide adequate rest/minutes for Taylor Broekhuis!

Reference Taylor…hope he comes in 100% healthy this season, stronger with a few more pounds on him, and with the baby hook and 3pt shot workig!

Bosch Washing Machine Door Gasket says:

September 7, 2011 at 12:01 am

Bosch Washing Machine Door…

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