North Carolina State University Athletics
Sendek: Back Is Better
12/13/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 13, 2001
By Tony Haynes
It's a good thing Herb Sendek's playing days are over.
The NC State men's basketball coach, whose facial winces have been caught on television cameras in recent weeks, has been diagnosed with a ruptured disc in his lower back. The diagnosis was made on Sunday, the day after the Wolfpack came away with its most impressive win of the season, an 82-68 triumph at Syracuse.
"I went to the doctor on Sunday and Monday and I have a ruptured three-four disc," Sendek said on Thursday. "I started a series of epidural steroid injections to get it calmed down. It's helped, I'm a lot better now than I was for about 10 days."
Sendek expects to receive two more injections in hopes of alleviating the discomfort. Surgery after the season, he says, is not a part of the medical game plan at this time.
"I hope not," Sendek said. "That's a last resort. The plan was to attack it through this series of injections."
The sharp pain in Sendek's lower back first flared up without warning on Friday, November 30.
"It was the day before the U-Mass game, I won't forget it," he said. "I didn't do anything, I didn't have an accident or an incident. But part way through practice, my back just went into spasms. I didn't think anything of it. I figured it would go away in a day or so. But through Saturday's game at Syracuse, it had progressively gotten worse. The doctor told me it didn't have to come as the result of an accident or an incident. It could just be normal wear and tear, especially for someone who has been involved in athletics. I don't know if I've felt pain like that on a consistent basis over 10 days."
Along with the steroid injections, Sendek's pain has been eased somewhat by a young team that continues to show signs of improvement. This week, the Pack (7-2) has been working around final exams as it prepares for Saturday afternoon's meeting with UNC-Asheville at the Entertainment and Sports Arena.
"[Final exams] are obviously where our energies have been directed," Sendek said. "The guys have been working really hard, trying to get through finals this week. When they haven't been actually taking a test, they've been working with their tutors and studying. We given them some additional time off and tried to shorten our practices."
