SALON

Thursday, Dec 27, 2012 10:45 PM UTC

Creighton’s Josh Jones: Giving up basketball hurts

By

Topics: From the Wires,

Creighton's Josh Jones: Giving up basketball hurtsFILE - In this Nov. 24, 2012, file photo, Creighton's Josh Jones looks to the basket for a lay-up during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Arizona State at the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational tournament in Las Vegas. Jones had surgery on Dec. 18 to fix a problem that caused him to faint before the game at Nebraska 12 days earlier. He had an infected heart valve in 2007, when he was a senior in high school. McDermott said Wednesday night, Dec. 26, 2012, that doctors advised Jones to give up basketball. (AP Photo/David Becker, File)(Credit: AP)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — As hard as it is for Creighton’s Josh Jones to give up basketball, he says it’s not worth risking his life to keep playing.

Doctors advised Jones to stop playing after he underwent a procedure Dec. 18 to locate and correct an atrial flutter. He faces more procedures to treat the heart condition that caused him to faint before a game three weeks ago.

He said he wanted to let their words soak in a few days before he made his announcement this week.

“My life is more important,” he said Thursday as teammates practiced behind him at the Vinardi Athletic Center. “The game has gotten me this far. I’m the same person with or without it. But right now, and maybe forever, I’m just stepping away from the game.”

Coach Greg McDermott said he sensed after he visited with Jones two weeks ago that it was doubtful Jones would return.

Jones had an initial health scare in 2007, when he needed an infected heart valve replaced. Doctors said the first procedure revealed additional concerns with Jones’ heart. Jones said he’ll undergo a second procedure in January to diagnose the other problems, and more treatment probably will follow.

He said it would have been impossible for him to play again this season.

The fifth-year senior is scheduled to graduate in May with a degree in public relations.

Jones’ situation has prompted an outpouring of support from the community. Though he never started any of his 108 career games, he’s one of the Bluejays’ most popular players.

He’s an Omaha native who led Central High School, a few blocks from the Creighton campus, to three consecutive state championships.

“I’ve got aspirations to do other things,” Jones said. “I’m going to try to put my degree to use. I was going to do all these other things regardless, whenever my athletic career was going to end. Now it’s time to start pursuing them early.”

Jones said walking has been his most strenuous activity since he passed out during warm-ups before the Dec. 6 game at Nebraska. He admitted to still picking up a basketball and dribbling it when he’s hanging out at his family’s home a few blocks from campus.

“I want to tell everybody I’m fine — I’m normal — I’m just not able to do high-intense things to put my heart rate at an unsafe rate that can put me down, make me pass out again or potentially cause death,” he said. “That’s what the procedure is about, changing the complications of my heart to make me live a healthy life with a healthy heart.”

Jones played in eight games this season and usually was the first guard to come off the bench for the 16th-ranked Bluejays. He scored 18 points in a win over UAB. For his career he averaged 5.0 points and 15 minutes a game.

“Obviously, it’s a sad deal for him,” senior guard Grant Gibbs said. “As much time as he’s put into this game… If there is anybody who can handle this, it’s definitely Josh and his personality. He’s been tremendous, bouncing back and kind of looking toward the next phase of his life. He’s one of those guys who can find good in anything. He’s going to find a way to get through it.”

Jones plans to be on Creighton’s bench at home games, and he said he’ll hang around with teammates when he can.

“I’m still a great-spirited person,” Jones said. “I’m still smiling. I won’t stop smiling, as much as it hurts.”

More By Eric Olson.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations