Jaelyn Royal, who had brain surgery in December 2013, committed to play basketball at New Mexico State.
Royal, a 6-foot forward from Nevada, underwent Chiari Malformation decompression surgery, a procedure that reduces or eliminates pressure on the spinal cord caused by the cerebellar tonsils, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal. A small piece of the skull is removed to relieve the pressure.
After the surgery in December 2013, she was not cleared by doctors until April 2014. She was unable to do any conditioning or weight lifting to get back in basketball shape until August of that year. She was eventually allowed to get in the gym three times a week as she continued her recovery. She played a limited role as a sophomore at Liberty (Henderson, Nev.).
She transferred to Coronado last year and had to sit out her junior season because of transfer rules.
She played AAU basketball for the So Cal Select program over the summer and recently tore her ACL. She hopes to recover in time for her senior season.