By Jim Hague
It’s one thing for a growing high school basketball player to overcome the devastation of a crippling knee injury.
But two? On the same knee, no less?
That’s what Dorian Capurso had to endure when she was still playing sports at Ridgefield Park High School.
A two-sport (basketball and softball) standout at Ridgefield Park, Capurso suffered her first torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during her sophomore year of high school.
Capurso did all the rehabilitation work and listened to her doctors religiously to do the necessary physical therapy in order to return.
Capurso comes from an athletic family. Her father, Vito, was an excellent football player during his days at North Bergen in the late 1980s and her brother, Dante, was a fine football player as well.
“They really pushed me to get back,” Capurso said of her father and brother. “I think it helped me having a father who was an athlete. He always was in my ears and telling me what to do. He was my inspiration. My brother and I really pushed each other to become better athletes. He suffered some injuries when he was playing, a broken wrist and a torn meniscus, and he came back. I had too much love for the game. I didn’t want to stop playing.”
So Capurso came back. She was seemingly healthy, rehabbed the knee to perfection, coming back stronger than ever.
Then, incredibly, almost unfathomably, the same exact thing occurred again.
“It was one year and three days apart,” Capurso said, referring to the second torn ACL on the same knee. “Oh my God, I remember the feeling when I knew for sure that I had to do the whole thing all over again. It’s a feeling I can never forget. When it happened for a second time, it meant eight-to-nine months of rehab.”
Capurso had the knee surgery at the Hackensack University Medical Center, performed by Dr. Michael Meese, the same doctor that operated on Dante Capurso a few years ago.
Capurso said that the struggle she had to endure was not seen with a pair of crutches or a brace.
“It was more mental than it was physical,” Capurso said. “It was a mental game and that’s what pushed me to come back. I was more determined this time.”
Sure enough, Capurso was pushing herself to the limit. Doctors didn’t tell Dorian that she couldn’t play, but there certainly were doubts.
“Honestly, I was so determined,” Capurso said. “I wanted to make sure that there was no difference between me in the way I was before I got hurt and then after the two surgeries.”
Most college coaches would have given the old “thanks, but no thanks,” when they got the news that a girl had two ACL surgeries on the same knee. Since she missed most of her sophomore and junior years due to the injuries, there wasn’t much chance for the colleges to determine whether Capurso could actually play on the next level.
But Capurso did recover in time to enjoy a solid senior year in both basketball and softball.
In Capurso’s mind, she believed she was a better softball player than a basketball player.
“I think I was better in softball,” Capurso said. “I thought I was more of a softball player.”
When Capurso first started to think about colleges, she had slight hopes of playing both sports in college.
“I thought about it, but my body is shot,” Capurso laughed. “I had to stick to one sport.”
Capurso was intrigued by the way she was treated by the coaching staff at Rutgers-Newark.
“I was comfortable with the coaches right away,” Capurso said. “I thought I fit in here.”
R-N head women’s basketball coach Ashley Cieplicki agreed.
“People really didn’t know about her,” Cieplicki said. “But my Dad (Dave Cieplicki, the head girls’ basketball coach at Dumont High School) plays in the same league as Dorian’s school (Ridgefield Park). My former assistant Scott Papetti is a teacher at Ridgefield Park. There was always this connection with her. And she’s such a normal kid. She’s just an easy-going kid. We were really lucky to get her.”
One of Capurso’s best traits is her ability to jump. It’s almost uncanny to see Capurso jump for rebounds.
“It’s crazy,” Cieplicki said. “She really plays like she’s six feet tall. On her high school team, she really didn’t shoot much. She had to get the rebound.”
“After I had the injuries, I didn’t know how I would be able to jump,” Capurso said. “When I saw the difference in how I was jumping, I was amazed. I guess all the exercises paid off.”
Capurso started her college career with an explosion. She scored 14 points, grabbed 21 rebounds, and collected 12 steals against FDU-Florham, the NCAA Division III national champions three years ago.
“Her potential is endless and that’s pretty cool to see,” Cieplicki said. “She got a triple-double in her first college game. People tend to forget about that. She just plays. She plays hard. I definitely think she’ll be able to do different things down the road.”
Capurso is averaging 7.9 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 3.5 steals per game this season, as the Scarlet Raiders have advanced to the New Jersey Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinals.
Cieplicki knows that Capurso is just scratching the surface.
“Her role will just keep getting bigger and she will continue to get better,” Cieplicki said. “She’s a perfect player for the NJAC. We have a good relationship. It’s just a nice thing.”
Needless to say, Capurso is happy that she has recovered from two knee surgeries and she’s contributing to a winning program.
“I’m really happy with it,” said Capurso, who plans on majoring in physical therapy at R-N. “I’m glad I made the choice to come here. Coach Ashley said that it’s a Rutgers degree and that was important to me. I love it here. It’s not too far from home and I’m enjoying myself playing sports. I want to be able to give back and help others.”
Dorian Capurso is already helping others, telling her tale of dedication and determination.
