Jamie Kaiser Jr. will take the court this season for the first time since transferring from Maryland. Photo courtesy of Butler Athletics.<\/p>\n
SAWYER GOLDWEIN | SPORTS EDITOR | sgoldwein@butler.edu<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Jamie Kaiser Jr.<\/a> \u2014 a Maryland<\/a> transfer and former top-75 recruit \u2014 was primed for a breakout season when he arrived at Butler. That expectation disintegrated, though, after the then-sophomore forward went down with a preseason injury, ending his 2024-25 campaign before it began.<\/p>\n Kaiser suffered an ankle impingement<\/a>, partially caused by overtraining.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was an extra bone in the back of my heel,\u201d Kaiser said. \u201cI overused it, and then it snapped off. It was pretty painful, but once they took it out and I did my recovery, I was all good.\u201d<\/p>\n Initially, he did not grasp the severity of the injury. Anti-inflammatories were the first course of action, but they proved ineffective. After some painkilling shots were determined to be needed too often to be viable, Kaiser had to take the surgical route.<\/p>\n Head coach Thad Matta<\/a> felt that the Bulldogs were heavily affected by losing the talented three-and-D player.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was detrimental to us last year,\u201d Matta said. \u201cWe were banking on him to play a huge role for us.\u201d<\/p>\n It was a disappointing loss for the team, but even tougher on Kaiser. The injury was the first major one of his career, so being forced to sit on the bench and out of the action was a new, unwelcome experience. Still, Kaiser made the most of it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was terrible,\u201d Kaiser said. \u201cBut I had a great perspective. I knew that once I got back, I was going to have so much time to get better, and I was also going to be able to see the game from a different lens. I was able to watch practice every single day and study a lot more film. I think overall, it actually helped me.\u201d<\/p>\n A positive attitude helped Kaiser, but a strong work ethic is what really made his recovery count, and his teammates took notice.<\/p>\n