USC Basketball Player Overcomes Shooting Injuries to Score First College Basket 19 Months Later

USC’s Aaliyah Gayles made her first official basket since being shot in 2022 during the team’s 85-44 victory over Cal Poly on Tuesday.

She scored a 3-pointer and a free throw during the four minutes she played in the game. In a postgame press conference, teammate McKenzie Forbes discussed the significance of Gayles sinking her 3-pointer 19 months after the shooting.

“That’s everything to us,” she said. “That’s our teammate. That’s our sister, and we know how much it means to her so therefore, it means that much to us. I think basketball has been the most important thing to her, and we all know how hard she worked to get back and everything she’s been through. We’re just super happy for her. I’m super proud of her.”

According to ESPN, Gayles has played 18 minutes in three games with USC this season. She made her debut as a Trojan during the final minutes of USC’s 67-51 victory over Florida Gulf Coast on November 10.

“It felt good,” she told ESPN after her first game. “It boosted my confidence a little bit. I feel like I was back to my old self.”

Who is Aaliyah Gayles?

Gayles is a redshirt freshman guard at USC from Las Vegas. She was a McDonald’s All-American and the No. 8 recruit in the 2022 class, according to ESPN.

She was shot in her arms and legs by a masked gunman in 2022, returning to basketball on Friday after making her comeback.

When and where was Aaliyah Gayles shot?

On April 16, 2022, Gayles was shot several times at a party in Las Vegas — just one day after playing in the Jordan Brand Classic in Chicago.

According to ESPN, the trauma surgeon on duty at University Medical Center counted 18 bullet holes and estimated Gayles had been shot nine times in her arms and legs.

“The bullets fractured her left forearm and damaged her wrist, her right arm above the elbow, her right thigh bone, her right shin, her right ankle and her left shin. A ripped artery behind Aaliyah’s left knee was of immediate concern. It was no longer able to distribute enough blood to her lower leg,” meaning amputation may have been necessary if surgeons were unable to repair the artery, according to ESPN.

Dwight Gayles, Gayles’ father, told ESPN that he “thought basketball was over” for his daughter.

“I’m thinking, like, reality. Both legs. Both arms. People don’t just bounce back from something like that, you know? But I forgot who I was talking about,” he said.

Was the person who shot Aaliyah Gayles arrested?

The USC guard says she doesn’t know who shot her.

As of November 2, Gayles’ shooter has yet to be arrested, and the investigation into the shooting is still open, according to ESPN.

When was Aaliyah Gayles cleared to play basketball again?

After undergoing successful surgeries, Gayles didn’t give up hope on playing again. She signed her letter of intent from her hospital bed nine days after the shooting, 3 News Las Vegas reported.

She arrived at USC on July 14, 2022, almost three months after the shooting. She redshirted her first season while doing rehab but was cleared to train that September and to play earlier this month, according to Just Women’s Sports.

On Friday, she stood on the court, dribbling the ball as USC ran out the clock.

“It sent chills through my body,” her father told ESPN after watching his daughter take the court. “She did it. She finally touched the floor of a USC basketball court.”