LEXINGTON, Ky. — University of Kentucky women's basketball coach Matthew Mitchell is working his way back toward full involvement with the team while still recovering from brain surgery.
Mitchell underwent the procedure in June to remove blood from his brain following a March accident that left him with a concussion. Mitchell, 49, was hiking with his family in Mexico when he fell and sustained the injury.
During a video teleconference Wednesday, Mitchell spoke with the Herald-Leader for the first time since the surgery and discussed the incident and his long road back to the court.
"I'm feeling good. It's been a slower recovery than I would have ever imagined but I feel like I am rounding the corner," Mitchell said.
Mitchell is ramping up to a full schedule through a phased approach. He's back on the court running practice and expects to resume his duties in full by the time the season begins.
"Our staff has just done a great job and has really carried the load, and I feel like I'll be ready to go when the season starts," Mitchell said. "For a while I was not cleared to be on the court, so the assistant coaches handled that really well and so now I'm back on the court transitioning back into it ... (We're) expecting a full recovery and feeling good right now."
When the coronavirus pandemic shut down college sports last March, Mitchell traveled to Mexico for a vacation with his wife, Jenna, and their two youngest daughters. The accident occurred while he was out getting some exercise.
"I was just on a trail going too fast. I still think a rock popped up out of the earth or something, maybe it was a little earthquake," Mitchell joked. "I'd been on this trail before, and I just clipped a rock ... I hit really hard, (but) never lost consciousness."
After returning to Kentucky from Mexico, Mitchell jumped back into his typical routine.
"I thought I had recovered. I was going about my business as usual. I was back into exercise and feeling good ... We were still working 10-hour days," Mitchell said. "Then in June, I just had this persistent headache that wouldn't go away and I knew that wasn't right."
It turns out, Mitchell had a small crack in his skull through which blood was entering and putting pressure on his brain.
Mitchell had surgery in late June. Though things went smoothly, it was a stressful time.
"When they drill into your skull, that's a little scary," Mitchell said. "But the physical aftermath ... it just takes awhile for bone to heal. In fact, the surgical area probably won't be fully healed for another year."
UK associate head coach Kyra Elzy absorbed the bulk of Mitchell's duties during his absence.
"For several weeks there in the summer I was not able to do much at all," Mitchell said. "She's been so instrumental in building our program, and she just stepped right in and I just can't imagine how anybody could have done a better job."
