Not so fast

The next day, a new doctor was on duty. One who specialized in cardiac events with athletes. And he told Iwuchukwu a different story. He pointed to other athletes, like Kansas State’s Keyontae Johnson, who had suffered through cardiac arrest only to return to the court.

There was still hope. When Iwuchukwu returned home from the hospital, USC sprung to action much in the same way the basketball team’s staff had done the week before. Athletic director Mike Bohn coordinated the effort as the university’s medical staff and specialists examined Iwuchukwu. Coaches drove him to appointments at Keck and the Mayo Clinic. He had a procedure to put an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator in his chest, to slow down his heart if it ever reached dangerous levels again.

All with the hope that Iwuchukwu would be able to return to the court, but also the understanding that it might not happen.

“(USC) supported him, encouraged him. I had one of them say, ‘Even if you don’t play again, you’re still going to have your education,’” Anastecia said. “All those words will make you feel OK and it sure meant a lot.”

But those first few months after the cardiac arrest were the hardest for Iwuchukwu. His goals of reaching the NBA in limbo, he felt aimless, unable to even dribble a basketball. He listened to music _ a lot of J. Cole and Drake _ and watched Korean television shows.

“I felt like I didn’t have anything to really look forward to. As an athlete, you look forward to getting better and going to practices every day and training,” Iwuchukwu said. “I started to miss those things so much and I felt like I didn’t have a purpose.”

Even as those issues weighed on Iwuchukwu’s mind, he tried to downplay them. He was at practice every day, cheering on his teammates from the sideline. Goofing around, talking trash. Just being Vince.

“I’ve never seen him come into the gym with a sad expression on his face,” Morgan said. “You really can’t tell that he was down.”

Iwuchukwu felt that was his responsibility to the team, to not be a detriment as he went through his internal struggle.

“The positivity was what I needed to stay sane,” he said. “The positivity kept me in a good place because there were a lot of negative thoughts and negative times.”

All the while, the question of whether Iwuchukwu should play again, even if the doctors cleared him, weighed on everyone’s minds. He and his parents did the best research they could, and had some hard conversations.

“My parents are so loving and understanding,” he said. “They have put a lot of time into research and talking to other people, into certain knowledge from other sources for us to make the decision that it’s OK for me to play again. Honestly, they trust in me and I trust in them.”