She knew the question was coming. It's been the discussion of Mariah White's young freshman career at Kansas State this season, and the reason she has spent the bulk of her freshman year in Manhattan playing catch up.
She paused, sighed, and recalled the moment during her junior year that her high school basketball career suddenly came to a halt. It was a rivalry game against Norman (Okla.) High School and the two teams were in a tight game late in the fourth quarter.
White's team from Midwest City, was making a push for the lead with two minutes remaining in the game. And then, for the second time of her prep career, a knee gave out.
"I just knew it was my ACL," she said.
She knew because it was a familiar feeling, but this time, it was her left knee.
Just a year prior, the 5-foot-7 point guard had torn her right ACL.
With a second serious knee injury, the highly-recruited guard saw her future at the college level begin to fade.
Schools that were once heavily interested in White began to doubt her. Two knee injuries in four years, was just too much of a risk to invest in for some programs.
The University of Kansas and Oklahoma State were reluctant to take a chance on White and her fragile knees, thus deciding to walk away from their offers.
But KSU coach Deb Patterson ignored the risk, and remained loyal.
"I felt like Mariah was a real character kid," Patterson said Wednesday. "I think after a second ACL, to work as hard as she did — she is a young person that you can see wants to be good. In her heart and in her character, I saw someone I could really believe in."
And so she signed the quiet, shy worker from Oklahoma.
"They believed in me and they had faith in me," White said. "That says a lot about (K-State) coaches. I was scared that they would back off, but they didn't and I was really excited."
But it would prove to be a slow transition to the speed and demand of division I basketball.
It was clear when she arrived in Manhattan this fall, that the time she spent rehabbing her left knee had slowed her down. At the beginning of the Wildcats' fall workouts, White could only make it through about three minutes of conditioning and practicing before she had to quit. She was slower, weaker and as the season approached, it was questionable just how much she would contribute to the young Wildcat team.
"It was a challenge," Patterson said.
But White pushed through the pain of getting back into shape, and it paid off. She lost more than 15 pounds, became quicker and eventually worked her way into a position to see regular minutes in the Wildcats' non-conference slate and conference play.
"As we have gone through December and January, now we are able to see her sustain the intensity necessary, and not necessarily make mistakes because she is not fit," Patterson said. "She has taken steps. I think she is going to be one of those players that in a year or a year and a half, the whole game is going to change because she has been able to adapt to the division I challenge."
But for now, she is settling into her role as a playmaker. Through four games in conference play, she is averaging a little more than 10 minutes a game and she is averaging two assists per game.
A week ago against Colorado, she distributed a game-high five assists.
" (I want to) be able to come in and be a playmaker, and make plays." White said.
With the production received from her freshman playmaking guard, Patterson said she is pleased with what she has seen. It has been, and Patterson said hopes to be a risky choice that in the end will pay off.
"She wants to do well, she wants to excel and succeed in life as well as in basketball." Patterson said. "She has skills that I think, over time, are going to make an impact. I do think with her, its more about time. It's a testing of time and not losing confidence."
It's clear that through their short journey so far, neither Patterson no White have any shortage of confidence in their plan.
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