Elizabeth Kitley's Instagram Post Reveals Massive Step in Comeback From ACL Surgery

Back in early March, the Virginia Tech women's basketball clinched the ACC regular season championship and was ready to make a deep run not only in the conference tournament but also in the NCAA Tournament. Things were going as planned until their regular season final against Virginia in Charlottesville.

Four minutes into the second half, Elizabeth Kitley was on a fastbreak when she landed awkwardly on her knee and went to the ground. She was able to get up and go to the locker room and returned to the bench in the Hokies' 80-75 loss. That was the end of her Virginia Tech career as she was ruled out of the ACC Tournament and then the NCAA Tournament after it was revealed that she tore her ACL.

Despite suffering the devastating knee injury, that didn't stop her from getting drafted in the WNBA Draft in April by the Las Vegas Aces. After missing the 2024 season, she is hoping to be on the floor for them in 2025. She started taking those steps.

Elizabeth Kitley back working out after ACL surgery

Eight months after her surgery, Kitley posted a message on her Instagram page of her doing basketball activities on the court in Las Vegas. She still has six months or so before the WNBA season begins and she has plenty of time to build up her knee to be ready for training camp.

Before that, Virginia Tech will retire her jersey to the rafters of Cassell Coliseum on Jan. 19 when the Hokies host Louisville in a key ACC matchup. It's rightly deserved that her number 33 gets retired in Blacksburg as left a legacy. She won three ACC Player of the Year Awards and she is the program's all-time leader in games started, minutes played, points scored, and scoring average. She recorded 76 double-doubles during her career and grabbed 1,506 rebounds in five seasons for the Hokies.