UConn hoops star Caroline Doty reaches back to her Philly roots to overcome injury

On Sundays, Caroline Doty puts on her Michael Vick jersey and watches the Eagles.

Her favorite player is wide receiver DeSean Jackson ("He's such a tiny dude and sky's the limit," she said), but the Vick jersey was a gift from her brother.

"There's nothing like being from Philadelphia," said Doty, a graduate of Germantown Academy and redshirt junior for the University of Connecticut women's basketball team. "It gives me an edge. Some people don't see it, some people do."

Doty needs that edge. Because very little else has broken her way.

In the previous four years, she has torn the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee three times: the first during her senior soccer season at Germantown in 2007, the second during the middle of her freshman season at UConn in 2009, the third before what would have been her junior season in 2010. Two weeks ago during practice, she sprained her ankle. ("It wasn't even like your minor little rolling sprain," said UConn assistant coach Chris Dailey. "Her ankle blew up. It was one of those where she's out for two weeks.")

During her lone injury-free season at UConn, Doty, a supremely athletic 5-foot-10 guard, started 38 of the team's 39 games and averaged 6.8 points. The Huskies defeated Stanford to win the NCAA title; Doty scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds in the win.

A midsummer knee sprain and the aforementioned ankle injury have kept Doty out of coach Geno Auriemma's preseason lineup, but she is expected to be ready for the team's regular-season opener on Sunday against Holy Cross.

"Yes!" Dailey responded when asked if the coaching staff views Doty as a contributor this season. "We need her to be. She is one of the few kids on our team that has experience. We're a really young team."

The Huskies, who lost superstar Maya Moore to graduation, are ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press preseason poll, a low ranking for the perennial contenders.

How much can be expected of Doty?

"I don't know," Dailey said. "I don't know if that's fair because it's been a long time since she's played. But just having her on the court . . . she can have an impact on our team."

When Doty practices, Dailey said, she does so as if she's indestructible.

"Some of the things she chooses to do at practice in terms of sacrificing her body and making hustle plays, you would never know she had three ACL surgeries," said Dailey. "It's to the point where sometimes I think, 'Be a little smarter than that, don't take those kinds of chances.' But I think in her mind she has the opportunity to play, and she wants to play a certain way."

Dailey said it's very likely Doty has lost a step, but the coaching staff believes she has bridged the gap with maturity and veteran savvy.

Doty said that, believe it or not, when she steps onto the court, she doesn't even think about reinjuring her knee. She wears a custom-fit metal brace that, while she's playing, becomes "part of my leg."

"When I go on the court, it's like nothing happened," Doty said.

The months of rehab justify her confidence. Beginning with weeks of stretching and range of motion, Doty has put in the time and behind-the-scenes effort during each comeback.

"As Caroline has learned, you can do everything you're supposed to do and still be dealt another injury," said Dailey. "I think she appreciates the opportunity she has because it's been taken away from her a number of times."

Doty's goal for this season is to win another national championship and to be a "good factor on the court."

"The whole injury thing," Doty said, "I'm not going to think about it."

She'll do the extra work to prevent another tear: a heat pack before practice, the bike for extra warm-up, the ice packs after practice.

"Even in high school, I'd always been in the gym during free periods," Doty said. "Now with the injury and everything, I'll come in early, 20 minutes early with a heat pack, then bike for a little bit. And then after, I'm always icing, wrapping my knees."

Doty's twin brother, Kevin, plays football for Lafayette, and her younger brother, Mike, plays football for Temple.

"I brought two of my teammates to play with me and my brother at Temple," Doty said. "They knew just by the weekend that it's a different culture in that city."

From hours north, she follows her Philly teams, while trying to help hers continue its dominance.

"I'm just so passionate about the game - I'll do whatever I have to do," she said.