Josh Shipp has battled his way through injuries throughout his UCLA career. Now, the basketball team’s star forward will have yet another long rehab process ahead of him before the 2007-2008 season begins.
Shipp had successful arthroscopic surgery on his left hip on Friday after an MRI on Tuesday revealed a tear in the hip. It is the same kind of surgery that Shipp had on his right hip in September 2005.
“He had some soreness in his hip towards the last couple of weeks of the season, nothing major,” coach Ben Howland said. “It was really a surprise that there was small tear on the labrum.”
While Shipp did not last more than four games coming back from the surgery the first time, Howland is confident that Shipp will have no trouble returning this time around because of the fact that he has much more time to recover than the last time he had the surgery.
“Typically the recovery time on this, to be effective at full strength, is four to five months, so probably by the middle of September, he should be back to full speed.
“He’s going to have plenty of time. This shouldn’t be any issue.”
Even though the tear was a small one, the Shipp family decided that surgery was the best option given Shipp’s previous hip problems and the fact that the timing should not affect his ability to start next season. Unlike his surgery on his right hip, Shipp will not have to endure any pressure to rush back to join the team before the season starts.
“We elected to have this surgery as a precautionary measure,” Shipp’s mother, Deborah Shipp, said. “It came as a complete surprise to us because Josh played so well this year and his left hip really wasn’t bothering him. But when we learned that he had a small tear in his labrum, after consulting with his doctor, we decided to have the procedure done.”
Howland expects Shipp to begin his rehab as soon as Wednesday by participating in cardiovascular activity in the pool.
“It’s a slight tear, but it’s better to be proactive, go in, and do the surgery now, as opposed to waiting,” Howland said.
The surgery was performed by Dr. Carlos A. Guanche at the Southern California Orthopedic Institute in Van Nuys. Guanche is the same surgeon that did Shipp’s first surgery. He also performed surgery three years ago on Josh’s brother Joe, who led the Pac-10 in scoring in his senior year at California in 2003 and averaged 16.5 points per game in the NBA Development League this season.
“The surgery went very well, and Josh should be able to begin his rehabilitation next week,” Dr. Guanche said. “It is a very common procedure among elite-level athletes such as Josh. I have performed this surgery on NBA, NFL and NHL athletes, and all have returned to their high-level of competition.”