By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
Once again, Langston Love sat on the trainer’s table, wincing.
It was the encore to a setlist he never wanted to play.
Over the past four seasons, Love has taken a personal odyssey through injury purgatory. The redshirt junior entered February branded with an unfortunate distinction: missing more career games (63) than he’d played (62).
“I tried to come back earlier, just wasn’t quite ready yet,” Love said earlier this month after his latest return from the injured list. “It’s just a blessing from God just to be back on the floor.”
Thanks to a torn ACL in a scrimmage against Texas A&M, the former blue-chip recruit’s freshman season was over before it began. His next go-round was cut short by an eye injury against Oklahoma State in late February; the combo guard only played five more minutes the rest of the 2022-23 season.
Love spent a chunk of 2023-24 dealing with nagging ankle issues. After being helped off the court against Texas Tech in early February, he re-aggravated the injury two weeks later in his return against BYU. He came back for the team’s regular-season finale, but the ankle flared up again in practice. It needed surgery. He couldn’t catch a break.
“It’s a blessing to be here with all that I was going through with the rehab and this long journey of being back,” Love said in December. “I think they said it was 270 days [of recovery], and it was an unexpected 270 days. So it’s a blessing to be able to step foot out there again.”
This season brought similar injury luck. Initially, Love was medically cleared for the opener against Gonzaga, but a setback forced him to miss the Bears’ first four games. To call it disappointing would be an understatement.
“He’s a big factor that we were missing during the season,” freshman wing VJ Edgecombe said after Love dropped 16 points and six rebounds in the Bears’ 91-76 win over UCF on Feb. 8. “I’m glad to have him back; the team is glad to have him back. I’m pretty sure the fans are glad to have him back, too.”
Injuries plagued the team all season long. Head coach Scott Drew made sure to “knock on wood” before the opener so that the team would stay healthy. Apparently, the wood was hollow.
Baylor has only played five games with its full eight-man rotation. After a loss to No. 6 Tennessee in the Bahamas, the Bears dominated buy games against New Orleans (91-60) and Arlington Baptist (107-53) and blew out a pair of Big 12 opponents, Utah and UCF, by 25 points apiece at the Foster Pavilion.
And that was it.
Those eight players have already combined to miss 29 games, and with starting center Josh Ojianwuna sidelined for the season with a knee injury, that number will only continue to climb.
“Obviously [the injuries are] really frustrating for us,” Drew said after Ojianwuna went down. “We finally got eight together … and you have this happen.”
Love’s return to the fold couldn’t have come at a better time. He has helped fill in some of Ojianwuna’s missing production on the boards and on defense, where he has often been tasked with taking on much taller assignments. When big man Norchad Omier sits, Love becomes the Bears’ de facto power forward.
“We’re going to hit first, give our best effort,” Love said. “Especially with that lineup, we’re playing fast.”
Since returning from injury, Love has been thrown to the wolves, averaging 34 minutes per contest, including 41 in an overtime win against West Virginia. His first three games back marked the first time in his career he’s strung together three straight 15-point performances. And his defense has been invaluable.
“He can play multiple positions, you can play him 1-4,” Drew said. “We have some smaller guards who don’t have that capability to really provide that inside defense that Langston can give you, that toughness he can give you.”
Love figures to play a major role the rest of this season for a shorthanded Baylor team desperate for his defensive versatility and toughness. He has another year of eligibility remaining, which he could spend in Waco. But for now, after a half-dozen dead ends and over 270 days of recovery, he is just glad to be out of the training room and back on the court.
“It’s just a blessing from God to be back on the floor,” Love said. “Just to persevere through all that and just know that he had a plan for me the whole time.”
Baylor (16-10, 8-7 Big 12) will be back in action against Colorado (10-16, 1-14) at 3 p.m. Saturday at the CU Events Center in Boulder, Colo.
