Unfortunately, Charlie Easley has sustained several injuries throughout his basketball career.
Fortunately, he turned to Madonna’s orthopedic and sport-specific outpatient physical therapy program for help each time.
“To have three ankle surgeries and continue to play basketball at a high level, I owe that a lot to Madonna and all the care they give me,” Charlie said. “Rehab is tough. I know it’s going to be a workout, but I know that’s what’s going to get me in the best possible shape to continue playing.”
Charlie, a native of Lincoln, has been participating in therapy since he started experiencing back pain in eighth grade. Using special video analysis technology, his physical therapists were able to focus on form and angles to individualize Charlie’s therapy based on his specific injury.
“We videoed him landing because when he would come down from a jump, he wasn’t able to control his spine and would hyperextend a lot,” Douglas Tvrdy, DPT, PT, OCS, CSCS, outpatient physical therapist, said. “We were able to work on his technique as well as strengthening specifically that core musculature so he was able to stabilize himself in that way.”
Then, while at Pius X High School, Charlie started dealing with ankle issues and once again, he came back to Madonna.
“Some of it was in-season, some of it was out-of-season, so we did whatever he needed to get back onto the court as soon as possible,” Tvrdy said. “We did see him a couple of times during the state tournament, but then in the off-season, we worked on his mechanics, jumps, landing and running to be precise.”
Charlie took the Thunderbolts to a state championship in 2019, the first title in 15 years for Pius X. Then he joined the hometown Huskers as a walk-on.
“I earned a scholarship halfway through the year, and then I used that to leverage getting a full-time scholarship at South Dakota State,” Charlie said. “I was there for four years. We made two NCAA Tournaments. I had a great experience there.”
Charlie rolled his ankle in the Jackrabbits’ Summit League Championship game. He did not practice much leading up to the NCAA Tournament game, but following the season, his ankle injury required surgery.
“I have had a lot of different issues with my ankle,” Charlie said. “I ended up needing a scope and got it cleaned up after the year and immediately started going to therapy three times a week.”
Knowing that Charlie’s timeline was a little bit different this time around, as he explored options to play professional basketball overseas, Charlie’s physical therapists took an aggressive approach to his recovery.
“We knew he had to get his power back without disrupting the healing process,” Daniel Crowe, PT, DPT, OCS, outpatient physical therapist, said. “So we had the chance to use blood flow restriction training with him. His doctors allowed us to get him out of the boot in therapy and use a blood pressure cuff on his thigh pumping up to about 60-80 percent of limb occlusion pressure. This allowed us to achieve strength gains by exercising at minimal levels and get results that are similar to high-intensity strength training at lower intensity levels. So he was doing hard exercises, but not that hard because they let the tissue heal and as soon as he was able to weight bear, he had that power, that strength back and we were able to get him back on the court and so close to ready because of that technology.”
Charlie has always appreciated Madonna’s strategic approach.
“Madonna doesn’t rush you back to the sport you want to play, they focus on getting the strength back,” Charlie said. “They’re very meticulous in their details on what they want to accomplish and what you want and need out of therapy.”
After normalizing his range of motion and rebuilding the strength in Charlie’s ankle, they started focusing on the basketball-specific activities that make him special. Using cone drills, they would mimic hard rounding cuts, backpedal, and sprint forward and broke down his mechanics to make it achievable.
While the turnaround time for this recovery has been quicker than usual, Charlie’s goals remain the same.
“The goal is to play basketball and not have to worry about pain with my ankle,” Charlie said. “I don’t see therapy as you get a surgery and you’re two steps back. I think all the stuff that they work with me, I’m working muscles that I wouldn’t have thought would help me. I think I come back better than I was and feeling better. So I’m looking to increase my game.”