By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

MACOMB, Illinois — It’s hard to be an “Energizer bunny,” as Kaylen Reed described herself, when you have a broken leg.

But there was Reed on Western Illinois’ bench last season, playing a new role with her season on the court shut down because of the injury.

She’s healthy now — Reed started and played 36 minutes in the Leathernecks’ 61-43 exhibition win over Quincy University on Tuesday — but the negative she turned into a positive last season has made a difference.

“I think it was eye-opening,” Reed said of the view from the bench. “I feel like I saw a lot of things that I didn’t really see when I was playing. So I feel like it helped me when I came back to kind of slow the game down. I feel like I was very fast, always moving, and I feel like now I see it in a different kind of light.

“It’s kind of different when you’re hurt.”

Reed suffered her injury in the 95-52 loss at Cincinnati on December 6. 

“I had to have surgery, and it was probably the worst weekend I’ve probably ever experienced,” said Reed, a junior from Rochester, Illinois. “Once the anesthesia wore off … I mean, I had holes drilled in my bones when they put the screws in my leg, and the pain was unbelievable. I was at home with my parents, and thank goodness they were there. It was probably the worst pain I’d ever experienced.”

Reed came back to the Leathernecks, first on crutches and then on a scooter for better mobility.

“It was tough,” she said. “I think a lot of people thought it was funny, and I thought it was fun to scoot around, but, like, it’s hard. You never really realize how much you use stuff until it’s gone. So it was really difficult, mentally and physically. I’d never been put in a position where I couldn’t walk on two feet. I couldn’t do that.”

But it helped her stay with the team.

“I have always been a role player, and I think once I got hurt, I took my role differently — kind of being a player-coach because I could see things that maybe everyone out on the court couldn’t see,” Reed said. “I tried to help them out in any way that I could, and just kind of being that ‘Energizer bunny,’ — I feel like a lot of people say that when I do play, but even when I was on the bench, I just tried to provide any way I could.”

“Having that time out. I think it helped a little bit,” Western Illinois coach JD Gravina said. “It slowed the game down for her a little bit, observing so much, but then it also kind of motivated her, because she wants to play so bad.”

Reed agreed that the time off the court provided a spark to return.

“I think I definitely enjoy the game more,” she said. “I always loved it, but I think I’m not taking anything for granted. Even a bad practice. I’m like, ‘OK, what can I take from this that I couldn’t do last year because I couldn’t play basketball last year?’ So I think it kind of opened my eyes to how much I do enjoy all the little things. Even just walking the ball up the court is something that I couldn’t do last year. So it’s pretty nice just to take a step back and enjoy all the little things.”

Reed was cleared to return to playing in the summer.

“I think we had a little scrimmage before our actual official practices started, and it was just the team, and I just kind of got back into it,” Reed said. “And I was like, ‘Well, this is going to be fun. I’m back.’”

“She’s a high-volume kid,” Gravina said. “When she has a ball in her hand a lot, she can really create. She can score it too, and she’s a really good defender.”

Reed and fellow guard Allie Meadows were in the starting lineup together for an exhibition, but Gravina often has Reed running the second team in practice.

“Her and Allie are first-team kids, but the second team needs a point guard, and honestly, I think she really loves it,” Gravina said. “Kaylen loves playing on that second team, and just kind of carries them in battles. She just makes such a difference.”

Reed had always thought about getting into coaching after she was done playing, and the time on the bench last season reinforced that. She has spent time watching practices with Western Illinois’ men’s basketball team and women’s volleyball team, as well as the strength and conditioning staff, for a class she’s taking, and that has also helped her.

“I definitely learn a lot,” she said. “I feel like (the men’s basketball team’s) coaching style is a lot different than ours, so I kind of like to take what we do really well from our coaching style, and then what they do really well from their coaching style and their play style. And then I like to watch their point guards, how they come off of screens, how they read the floor, and then I try to do that in my game.

“It’s helped me, even in the weight room. When they say what drill we’re doing, it’s ‘OK, I know why now.’ I know the science behind it, especially in the weight room. I feel like I’ve learned a lot of different ways of doing things.”

Even an “Energizer bunny” can learn from watching.

“I’ve always loved basketball, but I think the appreciation for it increased tremendously,” Reed said. “I try to help my teammates in any way that I can. I try to love the game in any way that I can, more than the last day, and just know that I take nothing for granted anymore. I know that it could be my last practice no matter what happens. Scary situations happen all the time, so sure, I’m never taking anything for granted.”

Photo: Western Illinois guard Kaylen Reed is back after missing most of last season with a broken leg. (Photo from WIU Athletic Communications)