The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Dufelmeier's Perseverance, On and Off the Hardwood
2/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
By Steve Irvine, UABSports.com
Basketball slipped away from UAB senior Bianca Dufelmeier as quickly and painfully as her right shoulder used to slip out of socket.
It came on Valentine’s Day last year. The Canberra, Australia native jokes now that she “got a lot of chocolate anyway” but, at the time, it was no laughing matter. She reached for a loose ball in a win over Rice at Bartow Arena and felt her shoulder pop out. While that had become a common occurrence, with three dislocations and countless subluxations, which is a partial dislocation, last season alone, this one was different. This time it would not pop back in. She had to be sedated before it was put back in the socket more than two hours later.
At the time, it looked like her career was over. Dufelmeier said she had enough of the physical and mental toll it took on her. She made the decision to give up a sport that she was born to play.
So why does UAB head coach Randy Norton smile when talking about Dufelmeier’s story? Probably because the story actually didn’t end there. She’s not only back on the court, she’s playing a big role for the Blazers.
“It’s an ESPN story,” Norton said. “It’s an example of a person who perseveres. Right now it’s athletics, but we all know sports come to an end. Everything that you’re learning in your athletic playing career are things that are going to carry over to your life. Right now, she’s dealing with a shoulder and trying to get back for basketball. But she’s going to be dealing with family issues and job issues and who knows what life is going to throw at you. All these lessons are just going to make her that much better in life.”
To fully understand, you have to follow the path toward the shoulder injury that should have ended her career. Dufelmeier first hurt her right shoulder as a freshman at Kirkwood (Iowa) Community College in the 2011-12 season. She tore her labrum, played the final eight games in pain and then underwent surgery. The shoulder troubles didn’t flare up again until early in preseason practice during her first season at UAB. Once again, she tore her labrum in her right shoulder and once again she had surgery, forcing her to miss the 2013-14 season. A year later – to the exact day – she suffered the same injury once again. This time, though, she made the decision to hold off the surgery and played in 19 games.
A few days after the Rice game, Dufelmeier tearfully informed Norton that she was done. He was supportive but told her to be patient before making a final decision.
“The doctor went in, put in 11 new anchors, plus the three I had from the surgery before,” Dufelmeier said. “He said he put it in like a linebacker. He said ‘If you want to try, I’m 100 percent behind you.’ Coach was behind me, so I tried.”
Not everyone was on board. Her mother asked her to quit, even though basketball is a family habit. Her father, Tad, played in college at Loyola (Chicago) before becoming a professional basketball star in Australia. Bianca and all of her three siblings left home while in high school and came to the United States to chase a basketball dream. Her older two siblings chose to give up basketball but stayed to attend college. Her younger brother, Tad, who played for the U19 Australian national team, is in second season at Salt Lake Community College.
“She told me there was life after basketball,” Bianca said.
Dufelmeier wasn’t ready to quit, largely because Norton, the UAB coaching staff and her teammates never quit on her. Most coaching staffs recruiting her at Kingswood Community College scurried away after her first shoulder surgery. Norton and his staff never wavered in their commitment to her.
“Coach Norton knew about it and gave me a chance,” Dufelmeier said. “I came here, got hurt and he still backed me. Then I got hurt again and he was more than willing to let me play with this issue. Just the fact that I had somebody so supportive, I wasn’t ready to be done and I still had a chance to play. I didn’t want to give up on him or the team.”
Getting back on the court was not easy, though. She went through several months of physical and mental perseverance during rehab. Part of the process included a nutritionist to put healthy pounds on her 5-foot-6 frame. It was not until July until she began doing non-contact basketball work. The contact work didn’t come until preseason practice began.
In one way, all of that prepared her for the first hard shot on her shoulder. In other ways, though, there is no way to prepare for that hit after all she had been through.
Dufelmeier does not remember the exact practice she took that first hit. She does remember the details. She ran into a blind screen with her right shoulder taking the brunt of the force. She stopped practicing, walked off the court and knelt in the corner.
“I stopped practicing and said ‘I’m done,’” Dufelmeier said, smiling at the memory. “Coach came over and was like ‘You’re good. This is a time it would have popped out.” He said “You’re OK’. I’m like ‘Yeah, I’m okay.’ I sat out the rest of that practice from then on I’ve been a regular player. It’s a phenomenal feeling. And I don’t have to wear that big junky brace.”
Dufelmeier started 14 of the 20 games she’s played in this season. She is averaging 4.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. She leads the team in assists (2.7 per game), is second with 19 steals and third with 18 3-pointers.
“I think we all have a tremendous amount of respect for her, knowing what she’s been through and she just doesn’t quit,” Norton said. “We talk to our kids all the time about ‘You’re going to get knocked down but you’ve got to continue to get up.’ I’ve seen that shoulder literally hanging out of the socket. She’s the ultimate example of ‘She just keeps getting up, no matter what she goes through. She just keeps going forward.’”
Dufelmeier also moves forward with a positive attitude. She said all the injuries helped her become a better player by studying the game from the sideline. She already earned an undergraduate degree in mass communications and is well on her way to finishing requirements for a master’s degree in communication management.
“I wouldn’t wish this on anybody, but I wouldn’t change anything because I don’t know if I would be as thankful,” Dufelmeier said. “I definitely took basketball for granted. I don’t take this sport for granted now. I don’t take my teammates for granted. I don’t think I’d have the same work ethic by any means. I don’t think I’d be the player and teammate I am without this unfortunate situation.”
She added a big assist goes to everyone involved in the UAB women’s basketball program.
“People I’ve had around me are a big, big part of why it was positive,” Dufelmeier said. “If I didn’t have a supportive program around me, I probably would not have come back. But they cared enough to care about me, I felt like the least I could was try.”
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