Ohio State freshman wide receiver Kamryn Babb arrived on campus in June, and not long after he suffered a torn ACL – his second in less than 12 months.
Injury or not, Babb’s teammates still expect him to make an impact in Columbus once he can take the field.
Fifth-year senior wide receiver Parris Campbell, one of Ohio State’s team captains, was on hand when the injury happened. Campbell, while speaking at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago on Tuesday, admitted he was initially unsure what to say after seeing Babb go down.
Freshman wide receiver Kamryn Babb. (Courtesy of OSU Athletics)
“Honestly I was kind of stuck for a minute just because you’ve got a kid who just came off a torn ACL, worked his way up, grinding to get healthy, looking to make an impact on the team, and then goes down again,” Campbell said. “It’s tough.”
Despite the tough news for Babb, who arrived on campus as a four-star prospect out of St. Louis (Mo.) Christian Brothers College, Campbell said the team was sure to rally around him – especially since Babb is new to the program.
“I think the No. 1 thing that we try to do is just surround him with love, knowing that we were there for him, even though he just got there,” Campbell said. “Because you get there as a freshman and you’re kind of just lost, you don’t know who’s for you and who’s not. So I think just the ability of us getting around him and showing him that we were there helped him a lot.”
For now, Babb will have to watch from the sidelines. The ACL injury is likely to keep him out for his entire freshman campaign, and team doctors might end up being extra cautious since it’s not Babb’s first knee issue. Before the injury, though, the freshman had shown enough to make Campbell confident that he’d be ready to roll once he is back in the lineup – whenever that ay be.
“He’s a pure wideout, and you can see it in him,” Campbell said of Baby. “He’s a different type of dude, man, and when he gets healthy the world is – he’ll be good.”
