It’s been a long time coming for Lenée Beaumont — 584 days to be exact.
For one year, seven months and five days, Beaumont had to wait for her turn as she watched from the bench following her last appearance as an Indiana Hoosier on March 23, 2024 in the NCAA Tournament against Fairfield.
Following Indiana’s exit in the tournament, Beaumont was expected to make a big jump to replace the likes of Mackenzie Holmes and Sara Scalia.
However when it was time for Indiana to take the floor again in 2024 in an exhibition against Maryville, Beaumont was ruled out with what head coach Teri Moren described as a nagging knee injury that she suffered late in the summer.
Nagging was an understatement.
Beaumont would be ruled out for the year when Moren announced that she would have to have surgery on her knee.
A lot can happen in 584 days. For example, all but four of Beaumont’s teammates graduated or transferred before she stepped back on the floor. Those teammates, old and new, were alongside Beaumont as she scored 21 points and rallied the Hoosier crowd in Indiana’s 72-53 victory over Butler on Wednesday night.
Nobody would’ve blamed her if she left too. A season-ending injury is incredibly hard both physically and mentally on an athlete, but yet she stayed.
Needless to say, when Beaumont returned to the lineup after 584 days in an exhibition against Missouri S&T, it was a special moment.
“It was surreal,” Beaumont said. “Just gratitude for the process, for all the people who have helped me along the way. It's been a long journey but looking up, seeing my parents, looking around, seeing the fans, seeing the No. 5 shirts out there, nothing but gratitude.”
It's the message Beaumont has preached every time she’s asked. Even after low points in the start of the season like a shaky six-point win against Marshall. Beaumont has stayed positive.
“Especially days like today when you’re very frustrated with yourself. You know you could do better, you know you could give more,” Beaumont said after the Marshall game. “I think I have gained a lot of perspective over the last year that at the end of the day, I’m just grateful to have the opportunity to play today with my teammates.”
It’s this positivity through adversity that made Beaumont an obvious leadership candidate for an Indiana team acclimating lots of new players to the program.
Moren has called upon Shay Ciezki and Beaumont to be her leaders this season and said that they are the type of leaders who lead by example.
However, Beaumont hasn’t just been an integral leader for this team as she’s starting to play some of the best basketball of her career.
A career-best 23 points in a huge road win versus Florida State provided momentum for Beaumont and Indiana as they hosted Butler in a midweek instate matchup.
Beaumont didn’t skip a beat.
Nine points in the first quarter, 10 in the second for a team high 19 points headed into the locker room.
She wasn’t just making routine plays, but instead ones for the highlight tape.
Late in the shot clock midway through the second quarter, stepping back near the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall logo on the floor, a 30 footer rattled home for Beaumont as the crowd erupted.
As time was running out in the second quarter, with just enough time for one last shot for the Hoosiers, Beaumont stepped in and buried her fourth triple of the half as Indiana went into the locker room with a 44-25 lead.
The Assembly Hall crowd rose to their feet in an ovation as the Hoosier bench swarmed Beaumont on the court.
“It’s everything,” Beaumont said when asked about the moment. "I have great teammates so it just makes it so much fun. I’m playing with a lot of joy right now. I’m just having fun playing basketball, you can see the genuine care of one through 14 through the girls. It is really special. They’re talking to me through timeouts, you know keep your head up, keep shooting, and that's what I want from a teammate.”
Beaumont would finish the game with 21 points en route to a 72-53 Indiana victory.
Moren had nothing but praise to add for Beaumont following the win.
“I think that Beau(mont) is just becoming more comfortable,” Moren said. “What I’m most proud of is I think she has really improved defensively from her freshman year.”
It’s nights like this that make the 584-day absence of Beaumont worth the wait for the Hoosier faithful as they potentially have a young star on their hands.
While the injury was an incredibly hard time for Beaumont both physically and mentally, she says she wouldn’t change a thing.
“I wouldn’t change the situation that happened in the past,” Beaumont said earlier in the year. “I’m just so happy to be out there with my teammates.”
For 584 days, it was Beaumont waiting and wondering when she would play for Indiana again.
Now it's the Indiana fans’ turn to wait.
Patiently on the edge of their seat, waiting to erupt for another big play from Lenée Beaumont.
