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By Dylan Hernandez

Daily Bruin Senior Staff He waited five years for this, only to have had it taken away in an instant.

He wants to scream, yell, perhaps even cry. Tuesday morning, UCLA senior guard Rico Hines received the results of the MRI he had taken the day before. What the doctor told him was what he didn’t want to hear: he had a lateral meniscus tear in his left knee. Hines, as a result, will miss the UCLA men’s basketball team’s NCAA Tournament game against Missouri in the round of 16 this Thursday.

If the Bruins win that day, Hines will have to watch the next game, which takes place Saturday, from the bench as well. But whatever pain Hines feels, he’ll keep to himself. “Man, I can’t even describe it. I’m really hurt,” the Bruin captain said when asked how he felt. “But I can’t let my teammates see that.” Hines waited five years for this opportunity, to be on a team that was as close as it is this year to make the Final Four.

He’ll have to console himself with the thought that if the Bruins do make the Final Four, he’ll have a chance of playing – he’ll play, however, only if his knee responds positively to a week of rehabilitation. Surgery, naturally, is an option, but Hines won’t even consider it. Not now, at least. “There was no way I was getting surgery before the season was over,” Hines said. “I have a high pain tolerance. I’m pretty good with pain. Hopefully they’ll shoot me up or something.”

Poor guy. Hines is UCLA’s in-your-face, dive-over-the-table scrapper. That’s what he was at the beginning of the year and that’s what he was last Sunday when the Bruins took down top-seeded Cincinnati in the second round of the tournament. Had Hines not run so hard while chasing down a rebound in the first half of that game – causing him to land awkwardly and twist his knee – he would still be playing.

Then again, had Hines not been running at that pace, the pace which he ran all season, the Bruins’ season may have already been over. “It sucks to see him go down,” Bruin forward Jason Kapono said. “It’s the luck of the draw. He’s been here each of the last four years.” “It’s going to be difficult not having him because he brings tremendous energy,” center Dan Gadzuric added. “We’re not going to lose him totally because he’ll bring leadership from off the court.”

It’s off the court where UCLA head coach Steve Lavin hopes Hines can contribute. Lavin said he will use Hines as an extra assistant coach during this week’s games. “It’ll be an early start to his coaching career,” said Lavin, who has encouraged Hines to enter coaching when his playing days are done. Hines likes the idea of eventually becoming a coach, wearing a suit and tie, pacing up and down the sidelines. He just play to get a couple of games in first.