Smashing Success : Weber Overcomes a Downer and Makes Pumping Iron an Uplifting Experience

Funny how life--and 70-pound dumbbells--can come crashing down on you.

Braden Weber was pumping iron, happily building himself into a bigger and better basketball player, when his life took a temporary wrong turn.

Four-and-a-half months ago, Weber, a forward for St. Francis High, accidentally smashed his right middle finger between two weights, leaving the tip of the finger dangling, ready to drop off at any moment.

Four hours of emergency surgery later, Weber had his finger back. Today, it looks a little funny, Weber said, but it is fully functional.

The functions his fingers have performed best lately are dunking basketballs and clutching rebounds for St. Francis (19-5, 10-1 in Del Rey League play), which is ranked eighth in the state in Division III and needs a victory Friday at Pius X to clinch a share of the league title.

At 6-foot-8 and 225 pounds, Weber has powered his way to 13.1 points and 11.2 rebounds a game, both team highs. Weber relies not only on his size, but strength as well.

“He’s by far the strongest person I’ve seen on a high school basketball court,” said teammate Bret Christoffersen. “He’s not easy going against in practice.”

Added Coach John Jordan: “If he goes up for a rebound, 99 times out of 100, it’s his.”

Weber wasn’t always so strong, though. When he first came to St. Francis, he was tall and scrawny, Jordan said. He didn’t play much until this season because of 6-6 forwards Jaasen Pruett and Dave Craig, both unanimous all-league selections as seniors last season.

But Weber, a senior, knew this season would be his chance to start and to shine. So he went into the weight room, lifting for an hour at a time three or four times a week during the off-season.

“I’ve seen a big difference in my game since I’ve been lifting,” Weber said. “I’ve gained about 20 pounds. Going up for a rebound, you always have a bunch of people clinging to you, and (the extra muscle) helps to push them off.”

Late last September, Weber was doing dumbbell inclines--lying on his back at an angle, head pointed toward the floor, lifting a pair of 70-pound dumbbells over his body. When he finished, rather than placing them down gently, he just dropped them.

As his hands and the dumbbells fell together to the floor, the tip of his right middle finger was smashed between the falling dumbbell and one Weber didn’t see already on the floor.

At first, he thought he was merely in excruciating pain. Then he looked at what he had done.

“I brought my finger up to eye level,” Weber said, “and I could just see it was hanging by an artery.”

He was rushed to the emergency room. But there was no rush once he got there.

“I just sat there for a couple hours looking at (my finger),” Weber said. “From the looks of it, I was pretty scared.”

Doctors finally told him and his family he would need surgery, and there were no guarantees he would emerge from the operating room with his finger.

“The doctor would not give us any odds going in,” Weber’s father, Brian, said. “He said he’d do his best. He said even if they were successful reattaching the finger, he wasn’t sure how it would heal.”

Weber underwent four hours of reconstructive surgery, and the doctors declared the operation a success. There were a few days of uncertainty, though, because the color did not immediately return to his finger.

The finger was bandaged with a brace. About every two weeks, doctors re-wrapped the finger and removed dead skin. The stitches were removed twice.

“The first time they didn’t get them all out,” Weber said. “They couldn’t find them all.”

The only rehabilitation Weber underwent consisted of squeezing a ball, which is fitting for a guy who specializes in rebounding. He was cleared to play basketball Nov. 30, two days before the Golden Knights’ opener.

Weber, a right-handed shooter, said the finger works normally now, although it is more sensitive.

“I always hit it wrong and it tingles for a little while,” he said. “Also, the fingernail has not grown out completely.”

His play seems to have been unaffected by the injury.

Weber was the most valuable player in the Chaminade tournament, which the Golden Knights won. He scored 24 of St. Francis’ 59 points in the team’s Jan. 3 upset of St. John Bosco, now the 12th-ranked team in the state.

One of Weber’s few on-court problems is he sometimes gets into foul trouble. He fouled out after playing 10 minutes Tuesday night against St. Anthony.

“He’s just so big that the refs spot him early and often,” Jordan said.

Weber, who has a 4.1 grade-point average, said the Air Force Academy, San Diego State and a handful of Division II and III colleges have shown interest in him. Jordan said Weber’s strength makes him a prospect to play at the next level.

“If you just look at the kid physically, from a standpoint of strength, he could step in (and play college basketball) right now,” Jordan said. “That’s the problem with most freshmen--strength.”

Not a problem for Weber. He continues to lift weights and bulk up, just as he did before. With one exception.

“I’m real careful when I’m lifting now,” he said.