‘Devastating.’ UK women rally around Dominika Paurová after second torn ACL
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Dominika Paurová tore her right ACL again in practice, ending her 2025 season.
- Brooks praised her rehab effort and called the injury a major emotional blow.
- Kentucky expects roster adjustments as teammates step up while Paurová rehabs.
When Kentucky’s Dominika Paurová went down in a recent practice, she knew immediately that she had torn her ACL again.
The redshirt sophomore guard had worked hard to return from her first torn ACL, which she sustained during the 2024 FIBA Women’s EuroBasket while playing with Czechia’s U20 team. Paurová — though not 100% cleared for game action from her initial injury — was making progress in rehabilitation before re-injuring the ligament.
UK Athletics confirmed that Paurová sustained the injury in her right knee, the same ligament she tore ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.
Head coach Kenny Brooks said Paurová is “probably the team favorite,” and said the second season-ending injury “takes an emotional toll on not only just her, but everybody, because she is so loved in our program.”
“And Courtney Jones, our trainer, just talked about how Dom rehabbed as hard as anyone she’s ever had,” Brooks said. “She went after it, and she did everything that was asked of her, and then some. And then for this situation to happen, and it happens right in front of us, it’s devastating. It really is.”
Senior forward Amelia Hassett said it was “terrible,” to see Paurová tear her ACL again, but that the team is rallying around her to try to support her.
“And knowing, obviously it’s gonna be hard to go through it all again,” Hassett said. “But just being there for her as a team. Comforting her and just knowing that this is a hard time for her and she really wants to be out on the court...Whatever she needs.”
Part of Brooks’ inaugural Kentucky transfer class, Paurová arrived in Lexington after a successful freshman season with Oregon State. After the dissolution of the Pac-12, the Beavers were left in a remaining two-team league with fellow misfit Washington State, and many key members of Oregon State’s 2024 Elite Eight roster opted to find new programs.
Paurová, who graduated from DME Academy in Florida but hails from Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic, averaged 5.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 16.5 minutes per game in her sole season with the Beavers. She, along with fellow 2024 transfer Jordan Obi, was expected to be a key depth player for Kentucky before each sustained a lower-leg injury.
“The most impressive thing was, immediately, immediately after it happened, she had an idea of what it was,” Brooks said. “I was hoping for a hyperextension; she knew what it was. And she cried a little bit, and then after that, it was almost like she went into, ‘OK, let’s attack this’ mode again. And her demeanor, her reaction to it all, has been so impressive to me.”
Though Paurová had never reached full capacity on the court — either in health or, as Brooks put it “from a confidence level,” — Brooks said he and the Wildcats “were really getting used to what she could provide for this team.”
When asked about how Paurová’s injury impacted the depth of this year’s team, Brooks said it was another moment for the roster to adapt.
“The blessing for us is that we do have depth at that position,” Brooks said. “And so someone else is going to have to step up and be able to produce, but I just knew she was going to bring so much to us because her length, her tenacity, she will attack anything head-on. That’s just her personality, and we were going to need that kind of toughness to help us, but we have some capable young women that can step up, that can help us in that, in her absence.
“And her spirit will still be there, and I know she’s going to help us in a lot of different ways.”
It hasn’t taken long for the 6-foot-1 guard to rejoin the team to watch practice and participate in ways other than playing. Brooks said Paurová has asked him how she can help the team, and if she could be given a job on the bench to stay engaged.
“The way she’s handled it with a big smile and just an understanding that she has another obstacle to attack,” Brooks said. “She didn’t say ‘Woe is me’; she didn’t say ‘Why me?’ any negative emotions. She was sad in the beginning, but, immediately after that, she went after it. So that just shows you what type of person she is. And I love her, we all love her, and I know she’s gonna attack this next rehab harder than she did the last one.”
