Flames junior has remained strong throughout adversity

 Two short seasons ago, Liberty sophomore guard Caleb Homesley’s season ended due to an ACL injury against Princeton after just 10 games. Two years later, the redshirt junior guard is in the second year of recovering from his second career ACL injury, and he is doing what he can to help the team. 

“I think my game has become a lot more well-rounded after my injury,” Homesley said. “Before my injury I was doing a lot of great things, but I was really focused on scoring. Now that my injuries happened, I was able to sit back and watch a lot of basketball instead of being in the game 24/7.” 

Through the 10 games he played during the 2016-2017 season, Homesley averaged 12.9 points per game, which was good for second on the team that season. In his two years since returning, he has been fifth and sixth in scoring on the team, averaging 7.8 points per game last year and 8.9 points per game this year. 

“It’s been good,” Homesley said. “I think that there have been hard times and good times as well, and I think out of all of it there was more good times than hard. I think whenever you have injuries like that you really have to focus on keeping faith. As long as you keep faith, I think that it’s easier to go through the process.” 

He said he watched players and learned their abilities and it helped him adapt his game to where he knew how best to help his teammates according to those abilities. 

“It’s just good to see how hard he worked to get to the point that he is now,” senior guard Lovell Cabbil Jr. said. “Like everyone knows, he was playing really good before he got hurt, and he kind of went through that process last year, but it’s good to see how hard he worked in the offseason to get to where he is now.” 

Cabbil said that the team has also taken a lot away from Homesley’s injuries. Cabbil, who has suffered a similar injury in his basketball career, said that Homesley’s injury and the work ethic he had in his recovery is a great reminder to not take anything for granted. Where he was and where he is now makes players want to work hard. 

People look up to Homesley, Cabill said, and they use his comeback as motivation and a good reminder. 

“It’s amazing,” senior forward Keenan Gumbs said. “Personally, I’ve been going through a little rough patch, and (Homesley’s) not shooting the ball as well either. But we’ve been getting extra work on the side and he’s been really encouraging, and he’s really experienced. He’s really good defensively and offensively; he can do everything. It’s amazing.” 

Gumbs, who is also Homesley’s roommate, said Homesley is well-rounded, long, has huge hands and can shoot the ball. 

“Anything on the offense and defensive end I really set myself to be a two-way player, try to be the best on both ends of the court,” Homesley said. 

Homesley said he does what the team needs. He has taken his game to the next level, not just being a scoring threat but being a defensive presence as well. 

“I think that if my strengths come out and I play to the way that I can play, I think that we’ll be very successful,” Homesley said. “I think that I help our team in a lot of different ways on the court.” 

Leadership, experience and communication are what he feels he adds to the team. This is his fourth season with the team, so he has learned to step into these roles over the years. Homesley hopes to carry these roles into the rest of this season and into next season as he has another year of eligibility.