Gateway Charter guard Elijah Dantley overcomes torn ACL injury

Even during stretches, Gateway Charter point guard Elijah Dantley has a smile on his face. He’s having fun with his teammates at the start of practice. The sophomore is savoring every moment because, as Dantley said, “I thought I was never going to play basketball again to be honest.”

Dantley first joined the Gateway Charter boys basketball team as an eighth grader. Going into his freshman season, the team had high expectations for Dantley to emerge as a key contributor. But at the end of the summer, all of that changed.

“During a game, I went up for a floater,” Dantley explained. “I came down and my knee just popped. And I knew I felt something weird. Like I didn’t want to think what I thought it was.”

Dantley tore his ACL but he was determined to get back on the court. He went through a nine month recovery, with six grueling months of physical therapy.

“That was the hardest process of all,” Dantley said. “You know what I’m saying like the pain I went through every day. It’s like repetitive every day. Physical therapy every morning and come to school. I do my stretches at home.”

Even though Dantley was not playing last season, he still wanted to make an impact on his team.

“He really adopted the role of being the chief energy officer for us on the bench,” Gateway Charter boys basketball head coach RJ Jones said. “Run the bench for us. He has the best bench celebrations on the whole team and maybe in the area.”

Dantley went from cheering on the bench all season to having the crowd erupt when he knocked down a three on Senior Night in his first game back last season.

“He had just gotten cleared and was clearly not ready to play,” Jones recalled. “He limped down the court shot the ball and jacked a three and went in. I definitely got tears in my eyes for him at that point.”

“You never know when something is going to be taken away from you,” Dantley said. “So you got to make the most of it while you can.”