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Group of college students worked 30 hours straight so injured NCAA star could play

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When Purdue takes the court Friday night against Texas Tech, the Boilermakers will be aiming for their first Elite Eight appearance since 2000.

Whether they have the presence of center Isaac Haas remains to be seen, but it won’t be from a lack of effort by Purdue engineering students, who have worked tirelessly to fit the 7-foot-2 big man with a custom elbow brace.

Haas fractured his elbow in Purdue’s second-round NCAA tournament win on March 16. He tried to play in the next contest, but the NCAA wouldn’t allow his elbow brace, as it had “nonpliable material.”

That’s when Purdue’s Human Injury Research and Regenerative Technologies Lab stepped in. Mechanical engineering professor Eric Nauman and his crew of graduate students worked for 30 straight hours to create a brace that would protect Haas and also be approved by the NCAA.

“We talked with the athletic trainers to see what the actual issues were with the current brace,” said Nauman, “and came up with the design goals we had to meet. It’s the exact same process that we teach our students every semester, except we were doing it in 30 hours.”

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The engineering team did rapid prototyping and experimented with many different types of padding. They ultimately settled on leather after trying out other types of materials.

“Since we weren’t allowed to use anything rigid, leather was the perfect material to prevent Isaac from locking his elbow out,” Nauman said. “It’s amazing to see these old and new technologies come together to get the job done.”

The next issue they faced was creating a brace for someone as tall as Haas. The students attempted to simulate Haas’ arm by wrapping one student’s arm in layers of bulky sweatshirts. One of the young engineers even used his own leg measurements as a simulation of the length of Haas’ arm.

When neither of those methods provided an accurate representation, they simply had the big man come in and sit for a fitting, after which they completed the construction of a safe and NCAA-approved brace.

Do you think the NCAA made the right call by approving his brace?

Haas was extremely grateful to HIRRT for their work, and his teammates were as well. Senior forward Vincent Edwards stopped by the lab to thank the students.

“It was then that I realized that these men aren’t your typical jocks,” grad student Brie Lawson told USA Today. “They’re the real deal – sweet, genuine and kind. I have utmost respect and admiration for these men, and if they ever need another brace, I’m on it in a heartbeat.”

Haas practiced with the team on Thursday and then received some good news on Friday, as the NCAA amended a rule interpretation which allows padding to be used to cover braces and casts. That could allow Haas to suit up Friday night, but the decision will ultimately be made by coach Matt Painter.

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Painter said one of the requirements for Haas to play was his ability to shoot free throws. Haas said he still can’t shoot free throws right-handed, so he’s been spending time working on his left-handed stroke.

Haas will presumably go through warm-ups before a decision is made on if he’ll suit up vs. Texas Tech, though the team confirmed that he is not expected to play.


Whether or not he plays, Nauman was glad to give Haas the chance to compete.

“Isaac, Vince (Edwards) and the whole team are such stand-up guys,” Nauman said. “They’re a wonderful group to work with. That’s why we gave pretty much every hour we had. We were driven to do the best job that we could for them.”

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Ross Kelly has been a sportswriter since 2009.
Ross Kelly has been a sportswriter since 2009 and previously worked for ESPN, CBS and STATS Inc. A native of Louisiana, Ross now resides in Houston.
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