Senior guard Jacki Gemelos will undergo fifth ACL surgery

USC senior guard Jacki Gemelos will have a fifth ACL reconstruction surgery in early January. Gemelos suffered the injury to her left knee during the Dec. 18 contest against Texas A&M.

Gemelos has sustained multiple knee injuries in her career at USC. The McDonald’s All-American has been a top player for USC since her full-time return in February 2010. A second-year graduate student, Gemelos was named to the Naismith Award Early Season Watch List and averaged 11 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.

“It’s a terrible injury for her to go through again — for any player for that matter, but especially for her” USC coach Michael Cooper said. “After the hills she’s climbed and [having] gotten the chance to look out over the top, and then for this to happen again is very damaging. But she is a young, strong girl and she’ll bounce back from this.”

Gemelos played the entire 2010-11 season. She helped USC earn the most wins for the Women of Troy since the 1994 season and a trip to the 2011 WNIT final. Gemelos was named 2011 All-Pac-10 Honorable Mention and won gold while representing Team USA in the 2011 World University Games.

“I’ve seen people have the same injury twice within a week or so, but never for one player to have the same injury over and over and over again” Cooper said. “She’s been eating right, doing the right things and weight lifting, so this will be like a new injury to her and I think it will be something that she’ll overcome very quickly. She’s a warrior and she’ll come back.”