SoCalHoops High School News

Lompoc's Joel Smith Returns Home,
Recovering From Injury--(Dec. 1, 2001)

According to a story published yesterday in the Lompoc Record by Alan Hunt, the paper's sports editor, Joel Smith (6'-7" Sr. F) from Lompoc HS, who was injured on Wednesday night is now back home and feeling "pretty good." Smith suffered what Santa Barbara coach Jeff Lavender called "...the worst incident I have seen in my 17 years of coaching" when he fell on his head in a Wednesday night game at Santa Barbara High. After being knocked out and going into convulsions, Smith regained conciousness at the gym. He was kept Wednesday night at St. Francis Hospital in Santa Barbara. Joel was pronounced "...in good condition" by the hospital Thursday morning, then released. "He's back home now," said Joel's mother Diane Smith. "He's taking Tylenol for the headache. He's got some stitches above his eye. But he wants to get back out on the court."

"It was a nightmare," Joel's father Joe Smith, told the paper.  Joe is also Lompoc High's basketball coach. He was describing the accident and the long night in the hospital. "I saw him go down. I thought he would bounce right back up. Then he rolled over and went into convulsions. It was a horrible sight to see. I was holding him and thinking "We need some help here.' It was a really solemn feeling. Then the paramedics got there. They said he suffered a shock to his whole system. The rhythm of his brain waves was interrupted."

Several tests were run on Joel at the hospital. "Thank heavens everything that was supposed to come out negative came out negative and everything that was supposed to come out positive came out positive," Joe told the Record. "If he doesn't have any blurred vision or severe headaches over the next few days, then the doctors say he's OK to play when the stitches come out."

Joel's stitches are supposed to come out Monday. Lompoc, a 65-54 winner at Santa Barbara in that season opener, plays at Thousand Oaks in the Thousand Oaks tourney against Newbury Park at 6 p.m. Monday. "I don't know," coach Smith told the Record. "That might be kind of soon."

The Record reporter also spoke with Joel Smith:   "I feel really good," Joel said. "About the only pain I have is from the area where I've got the stitches. It's kinda sore." Joel talked about the outcome of the game. "To hear that we won, that got me out of there even quicker," he said. "I could tell we were going to have a good game. We're really playing together as a team. The guys are getting on each other to run things right. We're helping each other."

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