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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u201cHe makes up for it because he is extremely intelligent and extremely hardworking,\u201d Wakefield said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One day, however, Njezic\u2019s whole world fell apart in a split second. Running down the basketball court during his junior year in high school, Njezic had been attempting to steal the ball away from the opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd I lunged for it, and I guess my foot stuck in the ground and hyperextended, and it tore my ACL,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Njezic had no control over his leg and did not know what had happened, so he hopped to the bench to straighten the leg out. Unfortunately, he never returned to action. With nothing else to do, he spent the entire baseball season on the bench, watching his younger brother play sports \u2014 depressed with the itch of doing what he loved but unable to scratch it. Wakefield knew about the pain plaguing his young athlete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou can tell it bothered him, but I could tell he handled it about as good as any high school kid could,\u201d Wakefield said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Njezic had lost his life\u2019s cornerstone \u2014 something he turned toward whenever joyful or troubled. But through the season of pain, he found a new cornerstone. He had been attending church forever, checking all the boxes by going to service, reading the Bible, and saying his prayers. Earlier, at 15 years old, he had begun to realize there was something more, and his older brother, deciding to become a preacher in Knoxville, served as the driving force behind his epiphany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI see him go through that, realizing it wasn\u2019t just like a \u2018check-the-boxes\u2019 kind of thing,\u201d Njezic said. \u201cIt\u2019s a daily way to live your life \u2014 made me realize that it\u2019s more serious than I was making it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This understanding later strengthened and aided him in his recovery as he grew closer to God. He remained active in assisting the baseball team, with Wakefield even describing him as an \u201cextra coach.\u201d Njezic credited his athletic trainer, Jacob Woodward, as someone who helped him through the hard months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRomans 5:3-5 reminds me that when we go through troubles and rough situations, it just trains us to be better, and it makes us stronger or smarter in the long run,\u201d Njezic said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After seven months, Njezic fully recovered and returned to play all three sports his senior year \u2014 an endeavor people noticed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHis name should be remembered at Lebanon High School for a long time for that reason,\u201d Wakefield said, adding that Njezic became the baseball team\u2019s best player that senior year, leading the team in almost every offensive category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The coach would also remember Njezic going off alone before every game to sit in the corner and pray, staying true to his values. Wakefield said the memory will stay with him for a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Preparing to continue his athletic career at Pellissippi State in Tennessee, Njezic left behind one piece of advice for other players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKeep your head down and keep working. It may not get noticed right away, but eventually, it will pay off.\u201d GN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THE SECOND oldest of six children, Brice Njezic grew up in Lebanon. Following in his parents\u2019 footsteps, he loved sports. Baseball swooshed into his life at 5 years old. Basketball and football came into the picture soon after. After participating in all three sports in elementary school, the activities continued into Lebanon High School, where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":21818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/lebanon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2024\/08\/2-3-1024x683.png\")
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