North Carolina athletic trainers abandoned NCAA-mandated concussion protocol on forward Brady Maneck after taking a tough, but accidental, elbow from Kansas David McCormack during Monday night's national championship game.
When McCormack attempted to shoot UNC big man Armando Bacot in the paint, Maneck briefly fell to the floor; The video shows McCormack's left elbow falling into Manek's face:
Brady Manek took that elbow like a champ pic.twitter.com/uvjbuI60Fg
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) April 5, 2022
Manek stayed on the court for several moments and was eventually helped by his teammates. He appeared appalled by the blow, but was not immediately taken care of by the Tar Heels trainers. He was out of the game for a few minutes as officials reviewed whether to call McCormack for a major foul (it was considered a basketball game).
According to NCAA protocols dated from 2020, athletic trainers were required to follow the following procedures before Manek could return to play:
Consistency with signs/symptoms/behaviors with any student-athlete:
- Assessment should be done by an athletic trainer or team physician (or physician designee) who has experience performing concussion.
- Must be removed from practice/game for that calendar day if concussion is confirmed or suspected.
- Can only return to play the same day if concussion is no longer suspected.
He didn't get out of the game until around the 10-minute mark of the first half, appearing to be a regular replacement. he checked back a few minutes later
Returning to the court, Manek took another accidental elbow to the face, this time in a rebound attempt. He stayed in the game.
Neutral observers wondered whether Manek should have been removed from the game after the first elbow, if only to confirm that he had no injuries: