Emmanuel Negedu's career at New Mexico is over

Sad news coming out of New Mexico today as it has been announced that Emmanuel Negedu's basketball career is over.

If you remember, back in September of 2009 when Negedu was still at Tennessee, he was working out in the school's football facility when his heart stopped. He had to be revived by a defibrillator. Negedu had an internal defibrillator implanted near his heart, which was enough for Lobos head coach Steve Alford to accept Negedu as a transfer into the program last fall.


Things were going well. After 10 games, Negedu was averaging 4.7 ppg and 5.4 rpg in 14.4 mpg, but most importantly, he was playing basketball. That all changed at halftime of a December 19th game against The Citadel. His internal defibrillator gave a reading that forced New Mexico trainers to sit Negedu for the second half, and he never returned to competition.

"The most important thing about the situation is Emmanuel's health," said head coach Steve Alford in a statement. "It's unfortunate that due to health concerns he will no longer be able to participate. However, Emmanuel will continue to be a vital member of Lobo basketball on a daily basis. He will remain on scholarship and work hard towards attaining his degree as well as continue to get the medical care he needs."

"Emmanuel and I both very much appreciate all the efforts of the UNM medical staff that continues to ensure his good health."

Negedu has already received a medical disqualification waiver, which means that the NCAA will allow New Mexico to honor Negedu's scholarship without having him count against the 13 scholarship players they are allowed.

You never want to see a kid's career end this way.

That said, the ending could have been much, much different, and that hits way too close to home. If the outcome of this situation is that Negedu simply receives an education and goes on to live a full life outside of basketball, its a win.

Its obviously disappointing, but he's alive.
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Emmanuel Negedu's career isn't over; he's headed to New Mexico

Emmanuel Negedu, a former forward for Tennessee who sat out last season, has decided to transfer to New Mexico.

On paper, this looks like nothing more than a player transferring to a school where he is more comfortable and can get more playing time. But there is so much more to this story.

Negedu's name is well-known in college basketball circles, but to the common fan he may be a new name. The reason Negedu didn't play last season is because he very nearly died on September 28th, 2009. He was working out with teammates at the UT football facility when he collapsed and his heart stopped for as much as two minutes. Luckily, the UT training staff was nearby and was able to revive Negedu using a defibrillator. A week later, he had a pacemaker implanted.

It doesn't get any scarier than that.

Negedu was forced to sit out the 2009-2010 season, and last month Tennessee announced that they would not be clearing Negedu to play at Tennessee. So Negedu decided to transfer. It seemed like he was destined for Indiana, but after he was cleared medically to play for the Hoosiers, the administration refused to allow him to play.

I think its safe to assume they didn't want an athlete dying on their watch.

Anyway, over the weekend Negedu visited New Mexico. Head coach Steve Alford had already gotten Negedu cleared by the legal department, he just needed to 21 year old to pay a visit to a cardiologist. Negedu did, it went well, so Negedu committed to play for the Lobos, and will be signing papers today.

But is that really a good decision for New Mexico?

Not even a year ago, Negedu collapsed while working out and his heart stopped for two minutes. If it wasn't for the heroics of the UT training staff, we wouldn't be having this conversation. He may have received the best medical treatment that money can buy and he may have the most technologically advanced pacemaker on the market, but there was still enough risk for two schools to pass on a kid that was a pretty highly recruited player?

I don't blame Negedu here. Not one bit. The kid clearly loves basketball, to the point that he is willing to risk his own life to play. As a 21 year old adult, it is his right to make that decision. If I was put in his shoes, I don't know that I would do anything differently.

Does that mean that New Mexico has to allow him to play?

With how far medicine and technology has come, odds are good that Negedu will be perfectly fine. Remember, he did get cleared by the doctors at Indiana.

But there is still that .0001% (Yea, I made up that number, but you get my point) that the pacemaker doesn't save Negedu, and he once again collapses and has his heart stop.

Its happened far too much recently. Henry White at Grambling. Jeron Lewis at Southern Indiana. Herb Pope from Seton Hall nearly joined that list.

As much as I wish the best for Negedu, the honest truth is that I hope we simply avoid the worst.

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Emmanuel Negedu's career is over

Heart problems that caused Tennessee forward Emmanuel Negedu to collapse while racing teammate Bobby Maze on Sept. 28th will end his career. Tennessee will honor the rest of Negedu's scholarship.

After undergoing countless tests over the course of the last week, Negedu had a cardiac defibrillator implanted near his heart during a surgery on Tuesday.

Obviously, this is terrible news for Negedu.

But there is a silver lining.

He is alive.

And lucky to be at that. Quite a few college and professional athletes have died from having their hearts stop while working out (sometimes it hits way too close to home). Vols head coach Bruce Pearl has gone on record saying that Negedu's heart stopped for two minutes. If he hadn't been running on the football field and so close to the UT trainer's facilities, well, we won't speculate.

You have a new lease on life, E-Man. Take advantage of it.

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Emmanuel Negedu to the hospital

Scary story coming out of Knoxville today.

Vols forward Emmanuel Negedu, a rising sophomore who averaged 7.2 mpg and 1.9 ppg as a freshman, had to be revived with a defibrillator after he collapsed at UT's practice facility.

He passed out after lifting weights, and reportedly had no pulse when the UT athletics staff arrived on the scene. According to GoVolsXtra, he was regained consciousness when EMT's arrived to transport him to the UT Medical Center. He will be held there overnight for observation.

Negedu, a native of Nigeria who attended Brewster Academy and originally committed to Arizona (before the Lute Olson debacle), was expected to contribute significant minutes to the Vols front court this season. But after collapsing, this season, and possibly his career, is now in doubt.

Get well soon, E-Man.

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