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Creighton’s Josh Jones had an atrial flutter, out at least a month

Josh Jones, Langston Galloway

Creighton’s Josh Jones, right, passes around Saint Joseph’s Langston Galloway (10) during an NCAA college basketball game on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Dave Weaver)

AP

Last week, Creighton guard Josh Jones passed out on the court about 35 minutes before the Bluejays were supposed to take on in-state rival Nebraska. If that wasn’t scary enough, Jones had undergone open heart surgery back in 2007 and his collapse happened less than a week after Utah State’s Danny Berger had to be resuscitated on the court by an AED during practice.

On Wednesday afternoon, Jones and head coach Greg McDermott held a press conference to talk about what happened and what Jones’ future as a basketball player looked like.

Jones experienced an atrial flutter in the upper portion of his heart, which more or less means that Jones heart began to beat at a dangerously fast pace, especially for someone with heart issues. McDermott did state, however, that there was definitive answer as to whether or not Jones’ previous cardiac problems and this atrial flutter were connected.

On Tuesday, Jones will undergo a radiofrequency ablation to try and fix the problem. A month after that, doctors will check to see if their diagnosis was correct and the procedure was successful. At that time, the they will evaluate whether he is able to return to the floor.

That means Creighton is probably looking at, at the least, two months without Jones in uniform.

If he ever returns.

“I don’t think any of us can speak to what Josh has been through the last five or six years,” McDermott said. “If he decides he’s done playing, than he’ll have my support 100%.”

“Basketball is only a little hobby within life, which is so much bigger,” Jones said. “And it all can be taken away because of something I love to do.”

The biggest point that Jones wanted to stress was that long-term, he’s going to be just fine, regardless of whether or not basketball is in his life. But the real reason he held the press conference, Jones said, was to address all of the Creighton fans that were pulling for him. The people that mentioned him on twitter and messaged him on facebook.

“First of all, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that has supported me the last couple of days through this process,” Jones said. “I’m holding back tears now,” something that didn’t last for long:

Best of luck, Josh.

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.