After having surgery on his ACL, Hummel was ready to play this season and ready to help lead Purdue to the National Championship. Purdue came close last season, but lost in the NCAA Tournament when Hummel went down with his ACL injury.
During practice, Hummel was going for a block but then landed awkwardly on the floor with his knee. From there, Hummel knew this wasn't going to be good.
"I felt it pop again," he said, "and I knew right away it was my ACL."
Hummel helped Purdue rank No. 3 in the polls before the NCAA Tournament and led the Boilermakers, averaging 15.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game last season.
After having surgery in March, Hummel felt fine.
"I felt good," Hummel said. "I was starting to be able to dunk the ball pretty easily. I shot the basketball pretty well all summer and fall. That's what's probably part of the reason why it's so frustrating, because I felt pretty good. I was moving around pretty good, and to have this happen again is hard to swallow."
Hummel will now go for rehab along with redshirting this season to play next year. Hummel looks to have surgery sometime in November.
"It never even crossed my mind to stop playing," Hummel said. "I'm definitely not going to give up that easy."
Head coach Matt Painter said that Robbie is a mature person.
"He's been through some tough times with his injuries," Painter said. "Even though he does a good job of handling things, it's frustrating. But he doesn't come off that way. He moves forward and takes on the next challenge, and that's preparing for surgery."
He is ready to test out his knee.
"Rob started doing good things, started making improvements," Painter said. "I watched him and it's like, 'Hey, he's getting back, he's getting back to making that stride,' but he wasn't the same guy. Nobody is."
Hummel has never had injuries like these before, considering the fact he has only missed but one single game in his dynamic high school career.
"Three years of playing varsity ball, I missed one game for a concussion," he said. "I really was never hurt in high school, middle school, AAU and elementary school. I don't know what's going on. I was really never hurt."
Painter is so far impressed with his power forward.
"He worked so hard," Painter said. "You take care of your everyday business with your rehab and you do what you're supposed to do, and then it happens again."
"In terms of words, there's not much you can say," Hummel said. "I know I'm frustrated. Everybody is."
Hummel hopes to get himself back on the court soon. Very soon.
"I still think I can come back and play at a high level," he said. "I'm not concerned about not being able to come back. I know there's people who have torn their ACLs two and three times and come back."
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