Chase McCarty On His MCL Injury Scare, Starting the Rehab, His Drive To Get Back and an NBA Family Reunion In Houston — a PaperCity Exclusive

About 10 rows up in the Toyota Center stands, Chase McCarty enjoyed a well timed (and much needed) family reunion with his mom and dad after a frightening start to McCarty’s own University of Houston season. “We brought mom in town so she could put her eyes on him after he hurt his knee,” Kelly McCarty, the dad, says. “Mom had to come see him.”

Chase McCarty is in good spirits after watching his dad’s Minnesota Timberwolves — Kelly McCarty is the T-Wolves’ player development coordinator — beat the Houston Rockets. But Chase McCarty is almost always in a good mood. Atlanta Hawks rookie point guard Kingston Flemings told PaperCity that McCarty is probably the single most positive teammate he’s ever played with.

But in his first remarks about the injury that completely, suddenly silenced the Fertitta Center in Monday night’s UH season opener, Chase McCarty admits to PaperCity that he felt plenty of fear when he felt his left knee buckle and he went down.

“It scared me more than anything,” Chase McCarty says. “I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t know what happened. I was just kind of relieved to hear the news and see the results.”

The diagnosis the McCartys received after Chase underwent an MRI? A low grade MCL sprain. The type of injury that can usually take a matter of weeks (from a few to several) to recover from. Not that Chase is committing to that timeline.

“Today was like my first day of heavy treatment,” McCarty tells PaperCity of his Wednesday rehab session. “I was able to do some slides. I didn’t really do any jumping today. This is one thing I’m taking day by day. So we’ll see.”

University of Houston coach Kelvin Sampson always takes a protect-the-player first approach with injuries. Don’t expect to see McCarty playing against 3-point bombing Cal in Lake Tahoe on Sunday. And playing all three games in three days in Las Vegas the week of November 16 does not seem like a recipe for an MCL sprain recovery either. But Chase McCarty is eager to play as soon as he can.

“It definitely is a long season, but I know how much these guys depend on me and I don’t want to miss any games for them,” McCarty tells PaperCity. “I want to be out there playing hard and competing. For the fans. And for everybody that counts on me.”

Felicia McCarty, Chase’s mom, felt the initial horror in the Fertitta Center, even watching on TV back home, when her son went down and then had to be helped all the way back to the locker room by associate athletics director for sports medicine John Houston and director of men’s basketball sports performance Alan Bishop. Chase McCarty leaned on the wiry Houston and the hulking Bishop with each hesitant, halting step, an arm draped over each man’s shoulder for support.

“It was scary,” Felicia says. “When I saw it, I didn’t scream. But I hit the table. It didn’t feel good. Because I didn’t know what was going on.”

Luckily, Felicia McCarty immediately knew who to text. She messaged Lauren Sampson, the UH basketball program’s solve-any-problem chief of staff, who quickly texted Felicia the number of the team doctor. Felicia soon was on the phone with the doctor, who told her that an examination showed Chase’s knee was “stable” and likely just the MCL sprain that was later confirmed by the MRI.

“It definitely is a long season, but I know how much these guys depend on me and I don’t want to miss any games for them. I want to be out there playing hard and competing. For the fans. And for everybody that counts on me.” — UH guard Chase McCarty

A Basketball Family

The Timberwolves coming to town just a few days later turned out to be unexpected fortuitous timing. The McCartys are a basketball family. Kelly McCarty is a former college basketball standout at Southern Mississippi who played 14 years of professional basketball in Israel and Russia after a two game stint in the NBA. He was his son’s first coach and his forever sounding board.

Kelly McCarty rising up in the ranks of the Timberwolves organization means plenty to this family. And with fears over Chase’s injury being something that could threaten his season having been quelled, the McCartys relished their moments in an NBA arena together. Kelly McCarty took Felicia, Chase and Chase’s girlfriend Anna Amara in back by the visitors locker room to show them around.

“He gets to come see me in my element,” Kelly McCarty tells PaperCity. “So yeah, it’s definitely cool. . . It’s definitely good to spend some time with him.”

When Felicia McCarty sees her son play hoops, she cannot help but flashback to all those years she watched her husband play basketball.

“Watching him play I feel like I’m watching my husband all over again,” Felicia says. “. . . So seeing him running up and down the court, I’m like, ‘He acts just like his dad.’ It’s exciting. I love it. . . Their body language. Their mannerisms. The way that they walk. It’s the exact same.”

Being in the same NBA arena, hanging out together as a family, is something this basketball family does not take for granted.

“It means a lot,” Chase McCarty says. “It stays in the family. So it’s fun to come out here. When they come to Houston, I always come watch them play. I’m happy they got a dub.”

It’s been quite a week already for Chase McCarty. Two Ws in Houston for the family, and one serious injury scare.

“Right after the initial hit, I felt a little pop and then after that I felt the pain,” Chase says. “And when we walked back in the back, I was telling (them) ‘It’s kinda going away. I kinda feel it’s not anything too serious. . . So I was like, ‘OK, we’ll get it looked at.’ And really when I woke up that (next) morning, I was like, ‘You know what, it’s kinda starting to feel a little better.’

“It’s definitely healing quicker than it would be if it was a tear. I was kind of relieved when I felt that.”

A lot of University of Houston basketball fans feel the same way.

No outlet covers UH basketball throughout the entire calendar year with more consistency and focus than PaperCity Houston. For more of Chris Baldwin’s extensive, detailed and unique insider coverage of UH sports — stories you cannot read anywhere else, stay tuned. Follow Baldwin on the platform formerly known as Twitter here.