Raivio waits, and hopes

Injured Pilot star could return for NCAA or NIT

By kerry eggers

The Portland Tribune, Mar 4, 2010

L.E. BASKOW / Portland Tribune

Portland Pilots guard Nik Raivio, trailed by teammate Robin Smeulders, powers to the basket in a December game against Portland State. Raivio has been sidelined for the past six weeks with an Achilles’ tendon injury.

When the University of Portland tips off against either Santa Clara or San Diego in their first West Coast Conference tournament game Saturday night at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nik Raivio will be in the house.

The Pilots’ senior guard won’t be in uniform, however.

It has been that way since Jan. 21, when Raivio sat out Portland’s game against Loyola Marymount after aggravating a right Achilles’ tendon injury.

A dozen games later, Raivio is still on the sidelines.

“It sucks,” says the 6-4, 205-pound Vancouver, Wash., native. “Nobody would want a senior season to end like this, but there’s not a whole lot I can do about it.”

A three-year starter and all-WCC selection a year ago, Raivio was instrumental in the Pilots’ early success this season, which included victories over Oregon, UCLA and Minnesota and the school’s first top-25 ranking in 50 years.

On Nov. 29, he tweaked the Achilles’ tendon near the end of a loss to West Virginia, but played through it and had it back to normal by the first of January. In practice before the Loyola game, though, Raivio came down on teammate Ethan Niedermeyer’s foot, hyperextending the Achilles’ tendon.

“It was just some small damage,” he says, “but in a real tender spot.”

With the approval of his doctor, Raivio initially attempted aggressive therapy, doing range-of-motion exercises to increase mobility during the times when the foot wasn’t in a protective boot.

“Nik is the toughest-minded kid I’ve ever coached,” says Eric Reveno, Portland’s third-year head coach who is in his 13th year coaching at the college level. “It is incredible competitiveness on one side and thick-headedness on the other, which has made him a lot of fun to coach. He was determined to do rehab better than anybody has ever done it.”

Every week, Raivio – 14th in 3-pointers (110) and 17th in scoring (1,130 points) on the UP career list – expected to return to action. Every week, there was too little progress with the injury to allow it to happen.

Two weeks ago, Raivio consulted the opinion of a second medical expert, who recommended backing off the aggressive rehab and allowing the foot to heal on its own. The doctor predicted within three weeks, it would be “100 percent healed.”

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