James Doran is usually the first person off the bench and on the scene when a UConn men's basketball player suffers an injury during a game.

He's also there every grueling and sometimes painful step along the way in a player's recovery and rehabilitation, helping them to eventually return to action.

It's what he does as an associate head athletic trainer, primarily involved with the men's basketball team.

In his 15th year at UConn, Doran's work day remains full despite the campus being nearly empty due to the coronavirus pandemic shutdown. He's one of six members of the sports medicine department staff deemed essential.

The staff, in addition to their regular duties, has spent a lot of time in meetings talking about possible scenarios moving forward.

"I'm super busy," Doran said on Tuesday. "Outside of not having as many student-athletes around, my day hasn't changed much. ... A lot of our time gets utilized dealing with COVID-19 and mapping out all the possible scenarios of what athletics will look like or can look like depending on when they get released to come back. We're in the early, early planning stages for all of that."

About 30 student-athletes remain on campus for various reasons, including four for post-surgery rehabilitation. The staff is following all the safety guidelines, including wearing masks.

Akok Akok is still in Storrs, working his way back from an Achilles tendon injury. He had surgery in mid-February.

Doran jokingly says Akok being isolated on campus is a perfect situation because the redshirt freshman forward can focus on his recovery.

"If Akok had gone home, that would have really stacked the deck against him for a return to basketball at the level that he wants," Doran said. "He would have fallen behind, big-time."

Doran is working with Akok five days a week, about two-to-two and a half hours per session. Right now, Akok, who no longer wears a walking boot, is focusing on improving his strength.

It was an emotional scene when Doran tended to the fallen Akok in the opening minutes of a Feb. 16 game against Memphis in Hartford.

"In that particular case, it's really just keeping him calm," Doran said. "Usually, I just try to give them a moment and put them in a place where they can just settle down, being that it can be so emotional for the athlete, especially something like that."

"I knew what was wrong right away. Then as soon as I got to him, I just put my hand right on his Achilles, so I knew right away what we were dealing with. I didn't have to do anything more than that. At that point, it became all about calming him and helping him understand."

Since then, Akok has come a long way both physically and emotionally.

Coach Dan Hurley said last month that he anticipates Akok will be back for the start of the Big East season, which begins in early January.

Doran is hopeful and optimistic that Akok will return sooner than that projected date, maybe as early as sometime in November.

"We just had a 10-week appointment with his surgeon (Monday) and his surgeon is very happy and thinks he's definitely on schedule," Doran said. "When this happened in February, it was a pretty traumatic deal. And Akok is not an emotionless person. So maybe the trauma and the drama were even elevated because of him and who he is. ... He's doing great."

Tyler Polley, another member of the basketball team, also is making good progress, but doing his rehab from home in Florida. He missed the rest of the season after tearing his ACL in practice in early January.

At first, Polley remained on campus in the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak before eventually heading home.

"Tyler was far along in his rehab to the point where I was definitely comfortable with sending him home and basically doing his rehab by telehealth," Doran said.

Doran monitors Polley by checking in up to five times a week via either text, FaceTime or a telephone call. Polley has access to a pool needed to do his aqua therapy. He also still keeps up with his regular appointments with his surgeon.

Barring any complications, Polley is on track to be ready for UConn's season opener in November, according to Doran.

"In the time that he's been away, he's doing great," Doran said. "He did tear that knee up pretty good inside. We have a good window, thank goodness. We'll utilize every bit of that window as we can to allow him to come back and continue to heal. There's no reason why he won't be there for the season when it starts."

It's been a busy few years for Doran, who's dealt with a variety of injuries with basketball players.

Last season, Jalen Adams went down with a knee injury at Temple. Doran figured that the UConn guard would be out for the remainder of the season. But Adams recovered quicker than expected, sat out just seven games and played in the final three games.

Alterique Gilbert was a more complicated case. He spent more time in the training room than the basketball court at times due to shoulder issues.

With Doran's help, Gilbert stayed relatively healthy last season, appearing in a career-high 31 games.

Any time a player makes a comeback from an injury, serious or minor, Doran feels a sense of accomplishment.

"It's great," Doran said. "I keep it under wraps pretty well, but I'm pretty excited on the court. ... I get excited just watching them play and when I see them and how they look, and they look like the person they were before they got hurt."

"I'm not a person that gets nervous about it, I'm just more excited. But that being said, I'll be honest about Alterique, because he had so many complications, every time was kind of nerve-racking just because, all right, let's see if this holds up."

g.keefe@theday.com