FORT WORTH, Texas -- Michigan reserve guard Macy Brown will miss the rest of the NCAA tournament after tearing the ACL in her right knee at practice last weekend, the school announced Friday.
Brown traveled with the team for its regional semifinal matchup against Louisville on Saturday. Sitting in the locker room with ice bags on her knee, Brown said through tears, "I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
"Emotionally, it definitely comes in waves, but this team has been so supportive, and my teammates have been amazing. To continue to pour into my teammates has been super huge, especially at such an important time. I don't want to take all the attention. I want to just continue to give everyone all the energy and all the positivity and carry it throughout this tournament."
Brown is facing a nine- to 12-month recovery timeline, but that was far from her mind Friday. Explaining why it was important to be here rather than back home following the injury, Brown said, "There's so many ups and downs in life in general, I know everything happens for a reason. And so just continuing to pour into other people, and even if I'm having a bad day, being able to support my teammates makes me so much happier."
Brown played in 30 games this season off the bench and had perhaps her best game of the season at Ohio State in February, scoring eight points in overtime to give Michigan the victory. But Brown provides more than a court presence as one of the leaders on a young team that opted to stay at Michigan after others decided to transfer out two years ago.
Coach Kim Barnes Arico praised Brown for that.
"She's just absolutely the most incredible human that you've ever been around, the most unselfish person, the biggest heart, the biggest cheerleader for everyone in our program," Barnes Arico said. "So when she went down in practice the other day, it was just crushing for all of us. Every teammate has rallied around her, and every teammate feels the exact same way about Macy."