Brandon Cotton in Auto Accident

[uwmfootball]

Taken from Detroit's board....

June 7, 2005

BY MARK SNYDER
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

Detroit Mercy basketball guard Brandon Cotton underwent surgery for injuries to his left hand suffered in a weekend auto accident, says Cotton's former high school coach.


Durand Shepherd, Cotton's former coach at Detroit DePorres, said the injuries were not life-threatening, though Cotton's car rolled over a few times.


"He was OK when I saw him, and I tried to keep him in good spirits," Shepherd said Monday. "He was worrying about basketball.


"He had surgery. Him being alive, though, is the most important thing. I think he'll be able to recover, but he'll need a lot of rehab."


Cotton, a right-handed shooter, was the Titans' most valuable player as a sophomore last season, even though he didn't play until December because of transfer restrictions. He averaged 18.8 points a game and was the Horizon League newcomer of the year and second-team all-conference. The former McDonald's All-America transferred from Michigan State in the middle of his freshman year.


Detroit Mercy officials had no comment and attempts to reach Cotton were unsuccessful.

[Ron Diaz]

You hate to see that happen to anyone.... But, that is potential good news for us, depending on how well he recovers.

[pnthr97]

I don't think it's good news for anyone. He's one of the HL's marquee players.

Here's to a speedy recovery for Brandon.

[bball30]

Hope he gets well soon, rollovers are tough to deal with, they can shake ya up pretty good, Hope it's a speedy recovery

GO PANTHERS!

[coacheinerson]

That is troubling news. I hope he is okay and is able to play this season. Good luck to him.

Aside from the Chicago Cubs , I wouldn't wish harm on anyone. He's a hell of a player.

[itsasekritt]

Good kid...I agree one hell of a player. I hope he recovers and everything turns out ok.

[Pantherholic]

i agree w/ Diaz that its potentially good news, from a competitive standpoint. if he's not himself this year that'll benefit us tremendously when we play them. packer fans, if culpepper gets hurt this year would u be saying "man that sux, hope he recovers in time to play us"? of course not. from a humanitarian standpoint i obviously hope he's ok and rehab goes well.

[bball30]

Wow. You know, all this talk you make pantherholic about switching leagues, and strengthening the one that UWM is currently in, you wouldn't think you wanna see one of the best, if not the best player go down, especially via automobile accident. I know you are new here, but that is the spirit of the rivalry, to me anyway. I look forward to good games, where great players from BOTH teams do amazing things. I for one would love to see Detroit do well this year, maybe send a couple of teams to the tournament, at least post-season. I don't know, maybe I'm way off on all this, but I think many would agree not only is this bad for Mr. Cotton himself, but it is also bad for the conference. You don't exactally want to see the ONLY McDonalds All-American this conference has seen lose his career to something out of his control.

GO PANTHERS!

[dutchpthr]

i hope that he comes through all-right. never wish anything bad like this on anyone else.

sounds like this is gonna be extremely bad for UDM if he can't go, which is too bad i would have to say that you never want to see a team be doen on account of injuries i hope that he pulls through.

[Pantherholic]

First of all you're making it seem like i'm happy he's hurt. i'm not. what i mean above is that if there's any good news from this unfortunate incident is that it could work to our advantage come winter. i'd prefer him healthy and not in a possible career-jeopardizing situation b/c of his potential but fate has dealt us a different hand. I'd like to see a few teams go to the tourney this year too but if not, as long as we do go i'm not too worried about it. when i watch a game vs. a rival i don't think "wow i hope this is a highly competitive game" i think how much i want to win it. if its close, ok, if we beat the piss out of them, awesome. Second i never said we should beef up the conference. If you'd go back to that thread from a week or 2 ago i said we should focus on ourselves and not the whole conference. do here what Gonzaga's done out west. Third, I didn't say we should move to a difference conference but IF we would i'd be ok w/ either the MVC or A-10. i don't see a new conf. in our near future anyways so i'm moreso set w/ the 2nd point.

[bball30]

I find that quite hard to believe that you don't go to a sporting event (Think outside UWM here) and hope to see a good game. You have to remember, that although Everyone that is a UWM fan wants to see them win, not everyone in attendance wants to beat the piss out of whoever they are playing. I agree, I love to see UWM dominate a game, however, good games are great to attend. If that wasn't the case, ESPN Classic wouldn't even be in existance. And I guess I just don't see a "silver lining" to a person being injured in a car accident, regardless of what he does for a living.

GO PANTHERS!

[Pantherholic]

ok i never said i spoke for anyone else but myself when i said i enjoy watching UWM to beat the piss the opponent. and i do go to sporting events hoping to see a good game and to me its a good game if they win. When i went to the WI/OSU football in Columbus last year i wasn't thinking "man i hope its a good game", i was thinking "damn i hope we win". its rare i enjoy games that my team loses. UWM/IL was a good game for me simply b/c of how far our run went. Had UWM played better vs. WI and lost by much less I would've seen it as a decent game. that's fine if u don't see it from my perspective, that's why people are different.

[Ron Diaz]

I agree. When I go to a game, my first and foremost thought is, "I hope we win." Worrying about if the game is going to be competetive or not is for suckers. Of course there are going to be competetive/good games, that chance comes everytime two teams walk on the court. As far as I'm concerned, we could walk up and down the HL this year, and then worry about finding a competetive team or play a good close game in the tourney.

[bball30]

I am not saying every game needs to be competitive. My point is, keep in mind UWM is trying to attract new fans. Not to mention how we have all discussed on here before trying to attract the "casual basketball fan" . Many times that fan would come to a game such as Detroit, hoping for a good game. Obviously I want UWM to win every game, you'll notice I said in my previous post "Think outside UWM here" A lot of the casual basketball fans that UWM is trying to attract to draw them into being season ticket holders might pick a first game to come to such as Detroit, or UIC, so sometimes have a good competitive game isn't "for suckers"

GO PANTHERS