Injury

When Opening a Package Closed the Door to a Scholarship Offer

By Noah Fisher|Updated on June 27, 2023 (originally published on December 14, 2021)

Recruiting Horror Stories™ are posted every Tuesday to provide athletes' first-hand experiences of what can go wrong during the recruiting process.

While the pandemic limited opportunities for most, for some college athletes, it allowed them another year of eligibility. Athletes highly coveted this opportunity as it could be their last chance to show why they deserve to make it to the next level, or even just to enjoy their last year playing competitively. This is a story of that chance being taken away in the blink of an eye.

Matt Faw had just finished his 4th season at Holy Cross University and decided to enter the transfer portal and use his final year of eligibility elsewhere. He spoke with coaches at the University of San Diego and was delighted with the thought of going across the country and furthering his basketball career. The University of San Diego extended him an offer right away, so he verbally committed and cut off all communications with potential other schools.

Related school ratings: Holy Cross College, University of San Diego

Everything Took a Turn for the Worst
Faw graduated from Holy Cross, then returned home to Pennsylvania for the summer to work on his game and spend time with family. The second day home, Faw received a package and sat down on the couch to open it. After struggling to open it for a few minutes, he decided to use a knife to open the package. That is when everything took a turn for the worst.

Faw accidentally cut his wrist trying to open the package. He tried to stop the bleeding, but with no success. He was forced to go to the emergency room, where he found out he had cut a tendon in his wrist and required surgery that week to fix it. The excellent news is Faw was told he would make a full recovery before he was required to report to campus for the following season.

No Longer Receiving an Offer
Faw informed the University of San Diego of his situation and was told nothing other than he'd receive more information in the coming days. Faw's surgery was successful. He reported the news to the University of San Diego and still heard nothing. It wasn't until a few days later he received a call telling him that he no longer would be receiving an offer from the University of San Diego due to his injury.

Faw was forced to reopen his recruiting late in the process and talk to schools he had relationships with prior because most schools had already filled their roster spots. Faw ended up committing to the New Jersey Institute of Technology and fully recovered from injury.