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Didn't Ford have something like that, too?
I remember when his recruitment was going on. I saw TONS of video's of this kid. No one ever questioned his heart... until now. It's really sad. I'm glad it was caught before anything tragic happened. That could have been devastating. Hopefully he'll be able to pull a Ronny Turiaf and make a comeback in a year or two.
UT's prized recruit sidelined
12:15 AM CDT on Wednesday, June 20, 2007
By CHIP BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – The basketball future of Texas freshman power forward Gary Johnson, a top national recruit and an anticipated starter for the Longhorns in 2007-08, may be in jeopardy.
Zeke Smith, Johnson's coach at Aldine High School in Houston, said Tuesday night that Johnson has been diagnosed with a heart condition. Smith said Johnson has seen at least two different specialists over the last two weeks who have recommended that Johnson not play basketball for the immediate future.
"In high school, he didn't have any situations at all with his heart as far as breathing or fainting or anything like that," Smith said. "So I was shocked to learn about this."
Smith said Johnson hasn't lost hope that he'll be able to play again.
"They can go and do a test tomorrow that might show he can play," Smith said. "But we may not know the answer for months."
Texas released a statement Tuesday from UT basketball trainer Fred Burnett.
"At this point in time, Gary Johnson has not been cleared to participate in any physical activities at the University of Texas," Burnett said.
Smith received kidney and pancreas transplants two years ago at the age of 43.
"Being a Christian and seeing God work a miracle through me, Gary's definitely a believer in prayer and positive thinking," Smith said. "He understands God's will will be done."
Johnson and Texas coach Rick Barnes were not available to comment. Texas basketball spokesman Scott McConnell refused to discuss Johnson's condition. Johnson is currently enrolled in summer school at Texas.
Johnson (6-7, 225), the nation's eighth-rated power forward coming out of high school according to Scout.com, averaged 26 points and 13 rebounds last season at Aldine. His toughness, rebounding and inside scoring has been compared to former Texas standout P.J. Tucker, who was the Big 12 player of the year for the 2005-06 season.
Didn't Ford have something like that, too?
good thing they caught it early.
Hope the kid's alright whether or not he plays ball again.
TJ? I have no clue. I'm not sure how similar this is to either Eddy Curry or Ronny Turiaf, but those two are examples that heart issues won't always end a career, so long as they are caught early, treated and monitered.
If you haven't seen any video of this kid, YouTube him. I'm sure there's some highlights. Kid plays all out. He was a PF in high school, and was going to transition to small forward at Texas. He'd have been a Shawn Marion type of small forward, however, as he just looks awkward doing anything but filling the statsheet down low.
I hope he's able to play again, but if not, as BeerIsGood said, I hope he's able to recover and live a productive life.
tj has a spine condition
lamarcus has a heart condition but he can play
http://www.texassports.com/index.php...ange_well_id=2
Statement on Men's Basketball freshman Gary Johnson
Statement from University of Texas Athletic Trainer Fred Burnett on freshman Gary Johnson:
After a six-month process of monitoring, testing and evaluation by Dr. James Willerson (President-Elect at the Texas Heart Ins ute and President of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston), Gary Johnson has been cleared to participate in all physical activities at The University of Texas, including regular-season games, beginning on January 1, 2008. Based on the team’s schedule, the first game Gary can participate in will be the January 2nd home contest against TCU.
This is going to be huge for the team if Johnson can get into the flow and go the rest of the season without issue. The 1st major weakness in the team is lack of post scoring and the 2nd is depth, and Johnson should help both out dramatically if healthy.
I do not see him getting into the flow this season
it will take him the remainder of the season just to get into shape
and the only chance of him getting into a good team rhythm without ing up what we have is if he has a really good bball IQ and picked up alot just by watching. But chances are this won't happen. Still, great news that the kid is healthy.
He's actually been working out and practicing with the team all season long, he just wasn't cleared to participate in games until now. He isn't in game shape, but he should be in pretty good physical shape. I think he can be in the flow enough to help the team out by midway through conference at the latest.
Yeah, I'd read & heard he was in pretty good shape.
Keeping my head outta the clouds (optimism) & my feet on the ground (realism) I say Gary J has a very good chance of contributing solid minutes by Tourney time, when it really counts.
I don't expect him to be putting up big numbers this year, but they really need a rebounder and defender outside of James. I think he can help with that this season.
We just need him to come in, play some hard defense and rebound the ball. If he also puts up some points, great.
As was evidenced by games against physical-rebounding teams such as Michigan St. and Wisconsin, we need help on the boards. I don't even want to think about how many second chance points we gave up against those two teams. Gary should help us improve in those areas. Welcome back.
I called it
Gary Johnson has completely messed up our offensive flow and on defense he's a step late almost every time
it would be offset if our guards had the ability and will to make low post passes for both him and Dex, but they seem to use that as a last resort
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