Our collective hearts go out to any student-athlete who is injured in action.  It's a somber time as we wonder about the injury's extent, and its effects on the individual and the team.

Once the event is over, we move on, however. What the student-athlete goes through during the days, weeks, and months following the injury is never really on our minds.  Just let us know about the return to competition.

Last season Wyoming's Cowboy basketball program had an inordinate amount of serious injuries. At one point or another there were five Cowboys sidelined, including three with surgeries.

Two of the marquee injuries were suffered by a pair of Cowboy sophomores who were expected to be key contributors: Austin Mueller, expected to log significant playing time, and Hunter Maldonado, one of the two best players on the roster.  Mueller underwent knee surgery, and Maldonado dealt with back, knee and ankle injuries

"It was a very difficult time, no doubt about it," Maldonado says. "Sitting out for six months, going through all of the medical issues and the rehab was not easy.  I learned a lot about myself.  After I was ruled out, my high school coach (Joe Hites) told me to spend 72 hours getting mad at the world. After that, get down to business, because the world is going to move on.  So that's what I did.  I tried to figure out how do I help the team, how do I contribute when I couldn't play.

"Maybe harder than that was the time when I was finally cleared, Maldo continues.  "I was excited to come back.  But, unfortunately, it's a process and that process takes a ton of patience.  You can't do everything right away, and you want to do everything right away. Once I was cleared to practice, it took me two months to get back to where I wanted to be.  It was very frustrating."

Like Maldo, coming back from his injury was the most difficult road Mueller had ever traveled.  "Was I going to sit around and feel sorry for myself, or was I going to learn from it," Muller says. "The surgery and rehab were really hard, but what was more difficult was the terrible feeling I had not being able to be on the floor and help the guys.

"I wanted to be a leader," he continues, "but that's hard when you can't contribute on the court.  So I think I learned to use my voice better.  I worked hard to focus on being positive.  I tried never to show in front of the team how frustrated I was."

According to Austin there was a silver lining about sitting out. "I think my basketball IQ got much better.  While sitting on the bench I was able to see a lot more things than I did while I was playing.  My mindset, my focus got better. I'm now able to see a lot more team and a lot less me.  The game slowed down for me too. I see it better now and that's good for the confidence level."

While recovering Maldo worked to look at things from the coaching-staff perspective.  "I really concentrated on listening to the coaching points.  Then if someone wasn't understanding or struggling with something, I'd pull them aside and try to explain coach's perspective from how I saw it.  In other words I had a much better picture from the perspective of the coaching staff.  It really became clear to me, and I think it has made me a better leader."

After sitting down and spending time with the two guys, I had to keep reminding myself that both are just redshirt sophomores.  Everything they have gone through has made them tougher and definitely more mature.  Their individual battles and struggles have forced them to grow up faster, possibly faster than someone who had not experienced those struggles.  They are "old" sophomores!

They came from different high school experiences.  Mueller played at Thunder Ridge High School in Highlands Ranch, Co.  He was a solid player who earned all-league honors, but wasn't as highly-touted as his teammate from Colorado Springs.  

Maldonado was one of the top players in the state of Colorado, and was heavily recruited.  He was first-team All-State at Vista Ridge High School in the Springs.  He scored 37 points with 12 rebounds in Vista Ridge's state semi-finals loss.

But here they are together as teammates doing everything they can to get the Cowboy program back on its feet

There's no question that both look at themselves as team leaders, and their injuries have sharpened that special talent. Watch practice for very long and you can see that.

Expectations?  Both have a very high level of that. 

"First, I want to be a better leader on and off the court," says Maldonado.  "Then I want to be the league's Defensive Player of the Year.  I want to make everyone else better by doing the best I can at the defensive end of the floor.  That's what separates the good teams, that's what makes teams better. 

"I think we are getting better every day and we're doing it the Cowboy way.  We are tougher because of all the things we've been through.  Toughness is what Wyoming is all about and that's what we're all about."

Mueller actually started at Wyoming the same year Head Coach Allen Edwards did.  "It took me a while to really see that not only is he concerned about us as players, but as men too.  I accept that culture and am proud to be a part of it."

He agrees with Maldo.  "We are tough physically and mentally," says Mueller.  "We have guys who want to be physical and turn it up defensively. It's amazing how difficult playing defense is, and how much doing it well means to success.  Defense will translate into good offense too."  

Both also understand expectations of those outside the program are not very high.  "We saw the pre-season rankings," says Mueller. "We hear what people are saying who are outside looking in.  Our record last season was not good, and we lost our best player (Justin James).  We get it.

"But I think there has been a lot of growth and maturity from our older guys, and the young guys are buying in.  I feel this is the closest team I've experienced since I've been here. I feel really good about us."

The season officially begins next Tuesday (Nov. 5) when the Pokes host Idaho State (7 p.m.).  Having Mueller and Maldonado back on the court is a huge boost for a team that is so eager to take the hard lessons learned a year ago, and write a much-improved chapter.