Bad Knees And One Eye Doesn't Stop Jossart

Article reprinted courtesy of Fargo Forum and reporter Eric Peterson. Photograph courtesy of Forum photographer David Samson.

Moorhead - Erika Jossart can't see out of her right eye and has had surgery on both knees – not that you can tell when the Concordia senior is on the basketball court.

 The 5-foot-7 point guard is the floor leader for the Cobbers, who earned a spot in the NCAA Division III women's tournament for a second consecutive season.

"I think what she has accomplished has been tremendous," Cobbers head coach Jessica Rahman said. "The idea that she would have that gutsy, gritty something inside of her, that she would keep going I think that's very tremendous."

Jossart hasn't been able to see out of her right eye since birth and she had surgery to repair torn ACLs in each knee during her high school career at Bismarck Century.

"If you tell her she can't do something, she is going to try to do it," said Robin Jossart, Erika's mom. "She is so determined."

A three-year starter for the Cobbers, Jossart's college career is nearing the end. Concordia (21-5) plays Wisconsin-Whitewater at 5:30 p.m. today at St. Thomas in the first round of the D-III tournament.

"When she's on the floor, I feel like it is easier for me," Cobbers junior Alley Fisher said of Jossart, who leads the Cobbers with 2.8 assists per game.

Getting to this point in her playing career hasn't always been easy for Jossart. She tore the ACL in her right knee three games into her sophomore high school season. That surgery and recovery went "picture perfect," she said. She was back playing soccer four months later.

Her second knee surgery wasn't as smooth. Less than a minute into her senior season, she tore the ACL in her left knee in a game against Fargo South.

Coincidentally, Fisher was playing for South in that game.

"Everything stopped and then she just limped off the court," Fisher said.

The problems with Jossart's left knee started soon after the surgery. She had a reaction to a pre-surgery scrub.

"I had blood blisters everywhere, and it was just a big mess," Jossart said of the area surrounding her left knee.

"She literally couldn't put her leg down after surgery," Robin added.

After her first surgery, Erika was on crutches for less than two weeks.

For the second surgery, she used crutches for about a month. Erika had to use a wound vacuum to help the area around her knee heal. She saw a plastic surgeon because she considered getting a skin graft.

"I had to go to a wound specialist for about a month every day," Erika said.

Despite the difficulties, Erika made it back for her senior soccer season, even though she still had a hole in the skin near her knee.

"She was psycho about rehab," Robin said. "She did so much rehab for that."

In her senior season, Erika watched from the bench as Century won the North Dakota Class A state girls basketball title against South.

"The hardest part of that game was watching them run out under the lights," Erika said, referring to the pregame introductions at the Bismarck Civic Center.

Even though she played only one full season in her final three in high school, Jossart continued her playing career with the Cobbers. Her older sister, Brittany, played a key role in that decision.

Brittany was a senior for Concordia when Erika was a freshman.

"I knew that there was a lot of athletic ability there," Rahman said.

Erika can see light and color out of her right eye, but, "I've always just said that I am legally blind in my right eye," she said.

She makes up for that lessened peripheral vision by moving her head back and forth and having uncanny court sense.

"I have got smoked by a few screens on my right side," Erika said with a laugh. "I have had it my entire life, so I don't know anything different."

Rahman said Erika has a toughness when she's on the court.

"She's just feisty, and I like that about her," said Rahman. "She gets out there and she competes hard."

Jossart plans to be a physical therapist in large part because of all the rehab work she's done for her multiple surgeries. She also had her left knee scoped after her freshman season at Concordia.

"I would like to be able to help people the same way (my physical therapist) helped me," Erika said.