A year ago, Ute linebacker Levani Damuni had to be carted off of the field during spring practice after tearing his Achilles, causing him to miss all of the 2024 season and setting in motion a lengthy rehab process.
“Hardest part of that was probably just at the beginning when there’s a lot of questions and things are real uncertain,” Damuni said Thursday after wrapping up another spring practice.
Throughout his rehab, the Stanford transfer linebacker leaned on a lot of people — his wife, Taylor, his fellow linebackers and the athletic training staff — while watching last season from the sideline.
Before the injury, the 2024 season — his second at Utah — was likely meant to be the last of Damuni’s college career.
The Ridgeline High product took his talents to Stanford out of high school, playing four seasons for the Cardinal and becoming a team captain in the process. Despite his success at Stanford, where he led the team in tackles with 76 in 2022, the draw of returning to his home state led him to join Kyle Whittingham’s program.
Damuni’s mom, Val, once sold her wedding ring in order to pay for Little League football fees, providing the opportunity for him to keep playing the sport that he loved, and the opportunity to move back home and be close to his family was something he couldn’t pass up.
“I’ve loved it. It’s been great seeing the family on the weekends, going home too when we have the early kicks and so it’s been great. I’ve loved it. It’s the whole reason I wanted to come closer to home,” Damuni said in 2023.
Despite his status as a starter at Stanford, Damuni didn’t start at Utah to begin 2023 — that went to Lander Barton and Karene Reid — but he appeared in most every game as LB3. When Barton suffered an injury against USC that year, Damuni started the final six games…
Source link : https://www.deseret.com/sports/2025/03/28/utah-utes-linebacker-levani-damuni-back-after-injury/
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Publish date : 2025-03-28 20:00:00
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