PULLMAN, Wash. — WSU’s men’s basketball program continues trend upward this season under second-year head coach Kyle Smith.
This past weekend the Cougs beat NCAA Tournament bubble team Stanford in three overtimes. Noah Williams had 40 points in the win, including the three that sent the game to its first overtime.
Cougar fans reacted with joy to the three. That was Craig Power's initial reaction, but it quickly turned to a completely different emotion.
"I jumped and I was like, ‘Noah!’ and then, ‘Ow!’" said Powers. "I was in a group chat with some friends. I immediately was like, ‘Hey, guys, I think I might have just popped my Achilles celebrating.’ I think they might have thought I was joking at the time."
Turns out Craig was right.
At the very least he partially tore his Achilles, which he had to sit through three overtimes with.
"Every time it would look like Stanford had a chance to win, I'd just be like, ‘Please, please don't.’ I had these, like, new stakes where, like, I can't have hurt myself and then they end up losing too," said Powers.
This actually isn’t the first time Craig has injured himself due to a WSU sporting event. Back in 2010, he cracked his head open while jumping up and down in his apartment celebrating a WSU football win over Oregon State.
"I obviously didn't learn from the original one, and I probably won't learn from this one. What I will learn is to wear better footwear and maybe stretch before watching the WSU game," said Craig with a smile.
Powers, who writes for CougCenter and hosts the Pod vs. Everyone podcast, saw his tweet about his injury gain some traction. It even elicited a response from Noah Williams himself, who hopped on KREM's Zoom call with Powers.
"I thought it was pretty funny. Not funny, but yeah, pretty funny at the same time. He had a lot of emotions as far as the game, and it’s great to see that we have fans that care about us like that," said Noah.
"I agree. It is funny, like, it's OK to say it's funny, man," said Powers.
"Minor setback for a major comeback," replied Williams.
There was only one question left to ask: Was it worth it?
"It was worth it in terms of my Cougar fandom. I definitely am glad that they won, and that Noah made that shot. Did I have to sacrifice my Achilles? Probably not. I probably could have sat on my butt and watched the game like most people do. In the end, my Achilles will heel, and I’ll still have the memory of the game, and I have a story to tell now," said Powers.
