Oklahoma State University Athletics
Up Close: OSU Sports Medicine
April 29, 2010 | Cowboy Football
April 29, 2010
By Stefan Nolet
With the construction of the new west end zone of Boone Pickens Stadium came an array of new facilities for the Oklahoma State athletic department.
One of those facilities is the sports medicine center, which is state-of-the-art and rivals the training rooms used by NFL teams.
The sports medicine center boasts a digital x-ray machine, an on-site pharmacy and four hydro-therapy pools with differing depths and temperatures.
Head athletic trainer Rob Hunt said he is excited to be using new equipment because of how it helps reduce recovery time for the players.
"We're certainly a lot more efficient now with our space and the tools that we have," Hunt said. "We've got a lot of really nice equipment. We think we've got the best equipment with a great staff and that combination certainly decreases our down time for our student athletes."
Hunt has been the head athletic trainer for the Cowboys for four years. He said he pursued a career in sports medicine because he wanted to work with student athletes and help them recover from their injuries.
"Being around student athletes, it's a great population to be with," Hunt said. "There are a lot of different backgrounds and different stories you learn about from them.
"That was probably my initial draw, but the second piece was helping people get back to competition. Watching someone go from injury to returning to competition was challenging and kind of fun to create and craft."
Hunt said his favorite part of football season is the routine. He likes knowing that games are on Saturdays, giving the sports medicine staff a clear timetable of when to have the players ready to go.
"Trying to get a guy from a point where he may not be able to practice on a Sunday or Monday to being able to participate on Saturday is a challenge," Hunt said. "It's a weekly challenge that myself and my staff look at as an opportunity for us to be successful and help our program and help the coaches get the players they need to hopefully win a football game the following week."
Treatment of injuries a big part of what the training staff does and so is the prevention of injuries. The staff will create certain exercise routines to help players avoid injuries and keep them from reinjuring previous ailments.
The training staff works alongside head strength and conditioning coach Rob Glass and the strength and conditioning staff to develop a plan to prevent injuries for each player when they first arrive on campus.
"We do a lot of things on the front end when they just enter the university," Hunt said. "A physical examination will tell us a lot in terms of any potential weaknesses or areas that we may need to address to prevent an injury.
"We work closely with Rob Glass and his staff to address any deficits a player may have, either strength-wise or any injury they suffered in high school that hasn't fully rehabbed.
As with all facets of the OSU athletic department, the well-being of the student-athlete comes first when it comes to sports medicine.
"Our goal is to provide comprehensive health care to our student-athletes, and with the strength and conditioning staff and the medical staff we have at Oklahoma State plus the facilities, we're in a good position to do that," Hunt said.
