Rehabilitation of Basketball Injuries and Return-to-Play

Dr. Adam Petway, who has over 12 years of experience in strength training and sports performance at the NBA and collegiate levels, has joined the University of Louisville men’s basketball staff as Director of Strength & Conditioning.

Petway most recently served as the Horizontal Jumps Coach/Assistant Track & Field Coach at West Chester (Pa.) University since January. There his coaching emphasis was on horizontals, as well as working with Golden Rams athletes in strength and conditioning programs, rehabilitation and biomechanical assessment and analysis for sprints, jumps and hurdles.

He was the Director of Athletic Performance for the NBA Washington Wizards for the 2020-21 season, where he directed all aspects of player performance for the team. In his role with the Wizards, he led the kinetic assessments of each athlete, collaborated with medical staff on player rehab, and designed and implemented training programs for all athletes.

Prior to Washington, Petway served as the Lead Biomechanist for Strength & Conditioning for the NBA Philadelphia 76ers after a year as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist with the team. There he assessed and contributed to the general physical preparation for each athlete among other responsibilities for the NBA team.

Petway served as the Director of Strength and Conditioning coach for the University of Arkansas basketball program for over four years (2014-18) after a year as an assistant with the program. While at Arkansas, he oversaw all aspects of the Arkansas men’s basketball strength and conditioning program, including its unique performance training for the Razorbacks’ up-tempo style and the team’s nutritional guidelines. He began his career with strength and conditioning roles at The Catholic University of America, The George Washington University, and the University of Maryland before working with Arkansas basketball.

Petway earned his bachelor’s degree in sports science from the United State Sports Academy in 2013. He completed a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in sport management at the Universidad Europea de Madrid in 2017 and a doctorate in sports science from Universidad Catolica de Murcia in 2021. Petway also studied applied data science through MIT professional education.

A Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the NSCA, Petway has taught classes at the collegiate level. His thesis research was focused on neuromuscular profiling and match-play demands in elite basketball populations and has been the corresponding author on several peer-reviewed publications related to these topics. Petway published the book Basketball Mechanics, which examines the physical attributes of the top performing basketball athletes in the game.

A native of Atlanta, Ga., Petway and his wife Colleen have two children: Emilia and Harrison.