MONROE - The haze is beginning to clear for Ellie Radke. Both in her head and with her basketball game at Canisius College.
After a whirlwind freshman season in Division 1 college basketball with the Golden Griffins, the 2006 Monroe graduate returned home for a summer of relaxation and work on her basketball game.
On July 27 at 2 a.m., Radke was hit by a drunken driver, escaping with minor injuries.
Or so she thought.
Upon returning to campus in Buffalo, N.Y., Radke had trouble just dribbling a basketball let alone getting through a basketball camp the Golden Griffins put on during the summer. Her speech was slurred and her head throbbed with pain.
"Right after the accident I went through 15, 16 days of continuous headaches," Radke said. "And it was the worst headaches I've ever had in my life."
After a series of neurological tests and repeated trips to doctors, Radke - 2006's Miss Wisconsin Basketball - was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome. It took over two months for Radke and doctors at the Concussion Clinic at neighboring University of Buffalo to finally pinpoint what was wrong with the Canisius sophomore. The clinic had done wonders for other athletes, including Buffalo Sabres center Tim Connolly, who missed the entire 2003-04 season with post-concussion syndrome.
Radke was cleared two weeks into the season. She missed the first four Griffins games.
Canisius head coach Terry Zeh has dealt with players who suffered from post-concussion syndrome and was able to bring Radke back into the Griffins fold slowly. Zeh had a great deal of empathy for Radke after seeing the work she put in during the summer put on the backburner.
"She worked hard all summer to come back in tip-top shape and then it was all taken away from her," Zeh said. "That was my biggest concern, just emotionally getting her to feel better.
"I've seen post-concussion syndrome before so you know it's eventually going to go away," Zeh continued. "It's just a matter of time and how you do it."
Upon finding her comfort zone within her head and on the court once again, Radke transferred that into solid numbers for Canisius early in the season. Radke had a career-high 18 points and eight rebounds in a 72-65 loss on Dec. 15 to St. Bonaventure. Injury-plagued Canisius stands at 6-8 overall and 1-3 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Radke averages 7.3 points and 3.6 rebounds a contest in 19.7 minutes per game.
"I think she's probably physically and cardiovascularly at 75 percent and in timing and basketball things she's probably 60 percent right now," Zeh said. "When she got cleared I was hoping by mid-January to be at that 90 to 100 percent range. I think we're on target for that.
"She does so many things so well. It's just that we've had to be very patient bringing her back."
Radke has made giant strides since the diagnosis.
"It's been a different season than I'd predicted it would've been this summer before the accident," Radke said. "My teammates and my coaches have been really supportive. It's still not where coaches would like me to be. It's getting there."
After a whirlwind freshman season in Division 1 college basketball with the Golden Griffins, the 2006 Monroe graduate returned home for a summer of relaxation and work on her basketball game.
On July 27 at 2 a.m., Radke was hit by a drunken driver, escaping with minor injuries.
Or so she thought.
Upon returning to campus in Buffalo, N.Y., Radke had trouble just dribbling a basketball let alone getting through a basketball camp the Golden Griffins put on during the summer. Her speech was slurred and her head throbbed with pain.
"Right after the accident I went through 15, 16 days of continuous headaches," Radke said. "And it was the worst headaches I've ever had in my life."
After a series of neurological tests and repeated trips to doctors, Radke - 2006's Miss Wisconsin Basketball - was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome. It took over two months for Radke and doctors at the Concussion Clinic at neighboring University of Buffalo to finally pinpoint what was wrong with the Canisius sophomore. The clinic had done wonders for other athletes, including Buffalo Sabres center Tim Connolly, who missed the entire 2003-04 season with post-concussion syndrome.
Radke was cleared two weeks into the season. She missed the first four Griffins games.
Canisius head coach Terry Zeh has dealt with players who suffered from post-concussion syndrome and was able to bring Radke back into the Griffins fold slowly. Zeh had a great deal of empathy for Radke after seeing the work she put in during the summer put on the backburner.
"She worked hard all summer to come back in tip-top shape and then it was all taken away from her," Zeh said. "That was my biggest concern, just emotionally getting her to feel better.
"I've seen post-concussion syndrome before so you know it's eventually going to go away," Zeh continued. "It's just a matter of time and how you do it."
Upon finding her comfort zone within her head and on the court once again, Radke transferred that into solid numbers for Canisius early in the season. Radke had a career-high 18 points and eight rebounds in a 72-65 loss on Dec. 15 to St. Bonaventure. Injury-plagued Canisius stands at 6-8 overall and 1-3 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Radke averages 7.3 points and 3.6 rebounds a contest in 19.7 minutes per game.
"I think she's probably physically and cardiovascularly at 75 percent and in timing and basketball things she's probably 60 percent right now," Zeh said. "When she got cleared I was hoping by mid-January to be at that 90 to 100 percent range. I think we're on target for that.
"She does so many things so well. It's just that we've had to be very patient bringing her back."
Radke has made giant strides since the diagnosis.
"It's been a different season than I'd predicted it would've been this summer before the accident," Radke said. "My teammates and my coaches have been really supportive. It's still not where coaches would like me to be. It's getting there."
