Despite ACL tear, Godfrey able to contribute for Tigers team during his junior year

Third in a series
By RICHIE HALL
Matthew Godfrey’s junior season for the DePauw University men’s basketball team turned out to be dramatically different from his first two seasons.
Godfrey, a Guerin Catholic graduate, tore his ACL before practices began, and was thus unable to play this year. But Godfrey was able to contribute to the Tigers team by serving as a student assistant. While helping the team, he also got an opportunity to see what college coaching was all about.
Godfrey’s injury happened the first week of October, and he had surgery on his ACL on Nov. 13. As he recovered, Godfrey was still able to find ways to be involved in practices and games.
“I helped with as many drills as I could,” said Godfrey. “A lot of passing drills. I did a lot of rebounding for the team. A lot of the time I ran the clock during the practice, kept score, ran the shot clock. During games I was also given the responsibility of tracking how the other team scored, whether it was set plays, ball screen, transition. Then I took notes and gave coaches updates throughout the game and at halftime.
“I helped with equipment quite a bit, just making sure we had everything on road trips,” said Godfrey.
As Godfrey got healthier during the season, he was able to get back on the court with his teammates, although in a limited fashion.
“I never got to practice fully throughout the season, but I was able to do some work drills with them, which was pretty exciting,” said Godfrey.
“He’s in a knee brace, he’s got no chance of playing, but he’s sitting through film sessions and working on his own basketball education,” said DePauw coach Bill Fenlon. “He’s out for the year and he made up his mind he’s going to make the best of it.”
Full recovery from an ACL injury usually takes around eight to nine months, and one can do some light jogging and put weight on it after about two to three months. He is expected to be back for his senior season.
“The training staff at DePauw was excellent,” said Godfrey. The trainers gave him drills that he could work on and slowly started incorporating basketball into those drills to make it more realistic.
And of course, Godfrey got 100 percent support from his teammates.
“They were always checking in on me,” he said. “The training room became a little family for our team. We’re always just checking on each other, having a good time.”
Meanwhile, as an assistant, Godfrey got a chance to sit with the Tigers coaches and see what they do in terms of game preparation. It gave him a new-found appreciation for the work they put in.
“I was able to see how they planned out scouts and the immense amount of time that goes into preparing for each game,” said Godfrey. “I got a good behind the scenes look.”
After spending all that time observing the coaches, Godfrey said he would consider stepping into coaching in the future.
“Right now I don’t have any definite plans to start coaching, but if the opportunity arises to be an assistant, it would be a lot of fun,” said Godfrey. “I’ve always envisioned coaching my children in sports.”
Off the court, Fenlon noted that Godfrey is “incredibly involved on campus,” including the Management Fellows, an honors program, and the investment club. Godfrey is majoring in economics with a minor in computer science.
“He’s one of those guys who’s taking advantages of his opportunities in every different way,” said Fenlon. “Travelling with us and locked in as an injured guy could possibly be, just trying to contribute any way he could. He’s an amazing dude, that kid.”