Selma Markisic's improbable return to court is just the start

“You’ll never play basketball again.”

That’s what redshirt junior Selma Markisic was told after finding out that she had torn her left ACL for the second time and the same meniscus on both sides for the third time. With an expected twelve month recovery time, Markisic was told that her basketball career was over. Initially, she was devastated, but she turned that devastation into resolve.

“I was heartbroken [by the news], especially [coming from] a surgeon who was in my knee three times,” Markisic said. “But at the end of the day, it’s my career, it’s my life. I can’t picture myself doing anything but basketball; I wasn’t going to let him or anyone else tell me that my career was over.”

By her own admission, Markisic is notorious for pushing past her physical limits and leaving her body to make up for it.

“All my knee surgeries that I’ve had were from overwork and overuse and not listening to my body,” Markisic said. “Every time I’m about to hit my peak in my career, I’ve had that type of injury.”

Her most recent injury happened during a preseason scrimmage.

“I went up for a jump shot while a girl was riding my hip, and I felt my knee separate,” Markisic said.

While the physical difficulties were manageable, the real battle was the mental side of recovery for Markisic.

“Physically, I knew my body could take pain and could take discomfort,” Markisic said. “Hearing what the doctor told me when I woke up, that the odds of me coming back were very slim … [I had to] keep from getting into depression and getting into a space that only I could take myself out of.”

After her operation, Markisic stayed at home with her family and leaned on them for support. She said that she did not always accept the support of her teammates but acknowledged that they were always in her corner, even from the earliest stages of her recovery.

“My parents have been through this with me three times; it really helped me being around them,” Markisic said. “[My teammates] were as supportive and encouraging as I let them be [because] I don’t like to be vulnerable around others. They were there regardless, whether I was open to it or not.”

With basketball not being an option for some time, Markisic kept up with other activities to center herself in recovery. She relied on journaling and podcasts to keep her mind occupied.

“It was hard, though,” Markisic said. “There were days where I would ask myself, ‘Is it really worth coming back?’, or ‘If I do come back, am I even gonna play?’ I went through a lot mentally; even five, six months post-op, I’d still have these thoughts linger in my mind.”

Head coach Danielle Santos Atkinson knew that Markisic’s injury was a severe hit in more ways than one.

“It was a huge blow to what we were planning to do, for how we thought she would impact our team and the role we wanted her to have,” Santos said. “It felt like she was really in her stride; she was working hard all summer and really hitting her rhythm.”

When she was ready to rejoin the team, Markisic took on a “player-coach” role, in which she helped give Santos and her staff a different perspective on how the team was performing. This role not only let her stay involved with the team last season but also gave her a new perspective on the game.

“I learned a lot from a coach’s perspective, what it is that [Santos] wanted and what it is the coaching staff wanted,” Markisic said. “Even though that’s not the role I wanted for myself that year, it was the role I was put into, and I feel like it definitely did help me come back. I would say it did [make me a better player]. When you see the court as just a player, you don’t really get to see what the coaches are talking about sometimes. But sitting next to the coaches for a whole year really taught me what it is that these coaches envision for us.”

“I wanted to keep her as involved as possible. She’s got a great mind,” Santos said. “At times when players are out and injured, they can get lost; you don’t feel as connected with your teammates on the floor. I didn’t want her to isolate or be in a space where she didn’t feel like she was a part of what we were doing.”

Santos also shed some light on what Markisic did for the team while she was in her player-coach role.

“We had her doing some play-calls at the front of the bench,” Santos said. “She would take down what the other team would call and write down what they were; she would take any notes that she was seeing offensively and defensively, and she would share that with the coaching staff. She was also involved in our huddles and would tell the team what she was seeing from her seat, and also ways she felt that the team could adjust and how they could be better individually as well.”

Playing again was always Markisic’s goal, though, and she recalled the exact moment she realized that she was well on her way to getting back on the court.

“Being able to run without pain [was when I knew],” she said.

The two most joyous and emotional moments of her recovery were getting the all-clear from her surgeon and stepping back onto the court for the first time.

“I was super excited; I’m not one to show my emotions, but I was very emotional, and I was really proud of myself because it was a really long 12 months,” Markisic said. “It was like a full circle moment for me … with this being one of the biggest and most dangerous [injuries] I had, it helped me realize what I’ve been through and where I’m at now. But physically, I was ready; I didn’t have a doubt in my mind.”

Markisic is currently averaging 5.8 points per game for the Pride, and while she is pleased with her progress so far, she feels that she has another gear that she can hit.

“[I had] a lot of rust; even now, I’m still trying to find my rhythm, and I’m still trying to reach my full potential where I know I can be, but it takes a minute,” she said.

Santos is happy to have Markisic back on the court – not just because of impact she has on the scoresheet but also for the added oomph she brings to the team with her grit.

“She has a great voice, and the toughness that she has really pushes her teammates,” Santos said. “She holds herself accountable and holds her teammates accountable.”

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Alexis Friedman