Sky forward Katie Lou Samuelson eagerly counting down days until she gets cast off

Sky forward Katie Lou Samuelson can’t help herself. Even with a hard cast on her shooting arm, Samuelson is putting up shots before every game and at practice. She sank a deep three at Wintrust Arena before the Sky’s game on Sunday.

“My left hand is nice,” she quipped on her Instagram story.

Samuelson, who fracture a bone in her right wrist during a game earlier this month, is eagerly counting down the days until she gets her cast removed.

“Yeah, it’s 11,” she said Sunday before the Sky beat the Sun.

After that, Samuelson said she could be out for an additional three weeks, meaning she might not be cleared to play until the end of July. But she’s doing everything in her power to return as soon as possible.

Samuelson is mixing in strength training with running sprints and stadiums to keep herself in shape. The hardcore conditioning is enough to motivate Samuelson to stay healthy.

“I don’t want to be hurt ever again because I don’t want to have to do these workout ever again,” said Samuelson, who also said this is the longest she’s been injured during a season.

Practices are tough for Samuelson. Though she’s able to participate in select drills, Samuelson has to watch some parts from the sideline.

“It’s definitely difficult especially because I feel so fine overall,” Samuelson said. “I can walk, I can move, everything is fine. I just can’t do the one thing that’s important which is shooting.”

Coach James Wade said he’s on the same page as Samuelson. He wants her on the court at practices because he takes a “certain level of comfort” in knowing she’s there.

“Sometimes Lou may come over and ask me, ‘Coach, can I jump in this drill?’ and I’m a sucker for toughness so I’m always saying, ‘Yeah, yeah, let’s go,’” Wade said. “And so [the trainers will] have to slow me down and say, ‘She shouldn’t do this drill.’”

Wade has been impressed with Samuelson’s resiliency and toughness throughout this whole process, but he isn’t surprised. He said Samuelson’s dedication to the game is part of the reason he picked her fourth overall in this year’s draft.

“She has a lot of positive energy and I know she was frustrated at the beginning and she was disappointed but her energy has been good for us getting through it, fighting through it, staying up beat and jumping into drills when she can,” Wade said. “She’s a tough person and it’s one of the qualities that’s going to make her a really really good player in this league.”

For now, Samuelson said she’s going to continue to work on her left-handed shots. She’s also taken up photography to pass the time.

“I’ve still been busy and involved with everything but yeah, photography, try to do little things to entertain me,” she said.