FORT MILL – Two years ago, Calli Wells thought her time playing basketball was done. Now she has signed to play in college.
Wells, 18, missed nearly a year and a half with a shoulder injury her freshman and sophomore years, but was able to make the most of her time on the court once she got back to catch the eye of college coaches.
Wells signed with Brevard College in Brevard, N.C. where she will play either shooting guard or backup point guard. Wells picked Brevard over other schools such as Belmont-Abbey College, Wingate University and Montreat College. She also looked at going to Clemson University just for academics, but said the pull of being able to play basketball in college was too much.
“It has always been a dream of mine to play college basketball,” she said.
Wells said she chose Brevard because of the feeling of comfort it gave her being there.
“I felt like the coach (Donald Hudson) and I had a good conversation,” she said.
Wells played four years on varsity, but nearly half of that was sidelined with a shoulder injury. Her freshman year, Wells did physical therapy on her right shoulder for about six months. When the therapy didn’t get the results she was wanting, doctors decided after different medical tests, it was time for surgery.
“The biggest reason for surgery was they didn’t know what was wrong really,” she said.
During surgery it was discovered that she has a torn labrum on her right shoulder and then the ball and socket in her shoulder had detached. Doctors installed three anchors in the front of her shoulder.
After surgery, she faced another seven months of physical therapy. She didn’t return to the court until midway through her sophomore season. She averaged three points a game in 14 games the second half of her sophomore year. As a junior she averaged, 10.7 points a game in 24 games for Fort Mill. She averaged 10 points as well her senior season in 24 games.
“The biggest thing for me was just being in shape,” she said. “I couldn’t really work out.”
After everything, Wells said mentally, coming back from the injury helped her on the court.
“It was already hard,” she said. “It taught me a lot. I learned a lot being so young. I was just ready to go.”
Wells plans on majoring in health science.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
