What do USC offensive lineman Jeff Byers, tailback Michael Coleman and women’s basketball player Brynn Cameron all have in common?
If you answered hip injuries, you would be correct. But more troubling, each required a second hip operation by out-of-town specialists following their original surgeries in Southern California.
Byers and Cameron went to the prestigious Steadman-Hawkins clinic in Vail, Colo., where Dr. Richard Steadman treats athletes from all over the world. Coleman underwent his follow-up procedure in the Bay Area.
If I’m a USC athlete and I injure my hip, I would probably ask to go to Steadman-Hawkins right off the bat.
Just in case you think this is USC-bashing, UCLA basketball player Josh Shipp underwent hip surgery at the same place in September as the USC trio, attempted to come back in January but was forced to sit out the remainder of the season because of increasing pain and discomfort.