Jase Febres looked like his old self for the first time in more than a year on Tuesday night.
It’s been a long time coming for the senior guard, who injured his left knee on Feb. 8, 2020 and underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in March 2020.
“It’s been a complete year now since I got hurt,” Febres said. “My knee is starting to finally feel back. I’m kind of getting back to myself, like 95% now.”
In the win over Iowa State on Tuesday, Febres came off the bench and drained three 3-pointers in his 21 minutes of play, reminding Texas fans the potential he had shown in his first three years in Austin.
Febres started 62 games, including the first 23 games in his junior season before the knee injury, largely based on his best skill: taking and draining threes at a high clip. He averages a season 36% mark from behind the arc.
When Febres first had surgery in March, head coach Shaka Smart thought he’d be ready to go when the season kicked off in November. But his recovery took longer than expected, and time kept ticking until just before 2021, when Febres was finally cleared to participate in five-on-five workouts.
“The journey’s been tough,” Smart said. “The surgery he had was pretty extensive, and I think all of us thought that he was going to be able to come back sooner than he did. For whatever reason, it took longer. That’s been really frustrating for him at times.”
During his time off the court, Febres worked with Smart on mindfulness.
“If it wasn't for that, I probably would have gone crazy,” Febres said. “This has been the hardest thing, hands down, that I’ve gone through. So just being able to stay present has been the biggest thing.”
When he finally stepped back onto the court in a Jan. 16 game against Kansas State, Febres wasn’t 100%. The rust showed early on, including in a 1-for-5 shooting night in Texas’s 80-79 loss against Oklahoma.
Since then, Febres has had to battle for his minutes off the bench, an experience he hasn’t had since his freshman year. But all the work and the challenging recovery paid off in Tuesday’s game against Iowa State.
“From having to relearn how to walk, to run, to move on defense, it’s been a long journey,” Febres said. “Finally coming back and being able to go out there and make shots and run and actually feel athletic again, that’s what the journey is all about.”
Smart said Febres needs to continue to work on his defense to provide more consistency and impact off the bench in the postseason.
No matter what happens, though, Febres is glad to be working on his defense rather than his mindfulness with Smart.
“What is eating me up the whole year is not being able to be out there with the guys,” Febres said. “Now we get to celebrate the ending, which is finally being able to play. This journey has been a good one. It’s built a lot of character for me more than anything.”
