There might be a more terrifying moment than watching one of your players with a well-documented heart condition crumple to the court, but Northeastern Illinois Coach Rees Johnson can’t think of one. Nothing compares with that moment, not even the news that your school is pulling the plug on Division I athletics at season’s end, as they are at Northeastern.
Johnson was there that day–that day being Nov. 25, when Nick Knapp stood carefree on the Northeastern gym floor, lazily shooting shots before practice began. Suddenly Knapp fell to the floor, his heart defibrillator peppering him with a pair of electric shocks.
An ambulance was called. Silent prayers were said. Knapp was rushed to the hospital.
This happened 11 days ago, though Northeastern prepared, but never released any news of the incident itself. But word leaked out–not by a concerned Johnson, but by people who can’t believe that Knapp still insists on pursuing his dream of playing basketball.
You know the story: Knapp originally signed with Northwestern, but the school later refused to grant him medical clearance to play. As far as Northwestern was concerned, Knapp’s rare ventricular fibrillation was considered a risk not worth taking. There would be no ghost of Hank Gathers at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
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Legal battles ensued, but in the end, Knapp never played a nanosecond for the Wildcats. He transferred to nearby Northeastern, accepted a scholarship offer and did so with the blessings of at least 10 different doctors and heart specialists. At last, he was going to play college basketball.
Then came the news of Northeastern’s decision to discontinue athletics, effective at the end of the school year. Then came Nov. 25. Three games into Knapp’s career, his defibrillator kicked in.
“I remember it,” said Knapp, who was in street clothes for Friday evening’s home game against Buffalo. “We were just shooting around when I think the device malfunctioned and delivered a shock when it shouldn’t have. I dropped to a knee and then I got another one. If there is such a thing, it felt like a light electrocution.”
Tests have been conducted and the results won’t be known for sure until next week. But Knapp said the initial indications are that the defibrillator engaged without reason, that the heart was beating neither too slow nor too fast.
“Basically, I’m just treating it like a sprained ankle,” Knapp said. “Until the doctors clear me, I’m not going to play again.”
But this isn’t a sprained ankle. Swollen ankles aren’t fitted for an internal defibrillator the size of a miniature Zippo lighter. If your ankle gives out, nobody rushes you to the emergency room or intensive care.
Knapp isn’t trying to be a hero. He insists that if there is a life-threatening problem, he will end his basketball career–for lack of a better word–in a heartbeat.
“I haven’t really thought about it and I won’t until next week,” he said. “Whatever my doctor says, that’s basically what it’s all going to depend on. If he says I can’t continue playing, then I won’t play.”
Because of the administration’s ill-timed decision to end athletics, Johnson’s team had already lost three of its top five players. Now comes the Knapp incident and the very real possibility of a fourth starter lost.
Friday night against Buffalo, Johnson was basically playing his second team, including a walk-on starter. It has been a nightmarish season, not made any easier by the memory of Knapp dazed on a gym floor.
“I don’t know if Nick truly wants to play or not,” said Johnson, who walked into the gym just after Knapp’s collapse that day. “It made him question things. But now it’s up to the doctors, the lawyers, the specialists.”
And Knapp. Especially Knapp.
What a lonely, scary feeling it must be to wonder what might happen next. He has endured so much, all in the name of basketball. He has played with heart, but perhaps it’s time not to think with his heart.
“I keep plugging away,” he said. “I can’t seem to catch a break.”
Oh, but maybe he did. On a little gym floor two days before Thanksgiving, in front of teammates, coaches and, most important, a team trainer, Knapp caught a break. Who knows what might have happened had he been by himself? Who knows how long it would have taken to summon an ambulance?
It will be a shame if Knapp never plays basketball again. Of course, that’s better than a tragedy.