Jarvis Johnson will not be medically cleared to play

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Whatever is going on, there seems to be some extreme disconnect between what we are hearing from our "traditional" media outlets and what we are hearing from the involved individuals themselves.
 

BleedGopher said:
Tweet from Jarvis' Mom from last night:

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per Jarvis:

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per Marcus' article:

“With everything that he’s been through, I truly believe that he will find a way to play basketball again,” Thorson said. “He just keeps fighting through adversity and never gives up.”

“God gives his hardest battles to his strongest soldiers,” Johnson wrote Monday on his Instagram page. “I been through it all, this isn’t anything I can’t handle! Just wait on it…”

http://blogs.twincities.com/gophers...rvis-johnsons-mother-glad-my-boy-is-a-gopher/

Go Gophers!!
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entirely different tone than amelia article!!! great to see.
 

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Clearly he's livid...or something.
 


howeda7 said:
This is pretty much what I figured since yesterday, despite the 'press release.' Clearly Johnson is livid. I'm guessing Pitino is too. Being a fan of this University and Athletic Department sucks. No matter what obstacles lie ahead, you can take comfort knowing they will make it worse.
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If you truly believe that, move on. Support another university.
 


No surprise that the article from Amelia paints the U in a bad way. For some reason, she has always been negative towards the U. She seems like a negative person who is above everyone else, and it shows in her "journalism".
 

DLguy said:
No surprise that the article from Amelia paints the U in a bad way. For some reason, she has always been negative towards the U. She seems like a negative person who is above everyone else, and it shows in her "journalism".
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I never really thought of her as negative towards the U (until the thought entered my mind the past week), but I have always felt that this is thought of as nothing more than a stop along the way to her...
 

FireDaveLee said:
I never really thought of her as negative towards the U (until the thought entered my mind the past week), but I have always felt that this is thought of as nothing more than a stop along the way to her...
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Do you expect her to be the beat writer for gopher basketball for 30 years? It's typically a 3-5 year gig.
 




jimmyvalvanoguy said:
sparlimb, There is not medical consensus on this. the kid has been playing summer ball at a very high level for years. This is an attorney driven" liability"event. The university is only interested in covering their asses not Jarvis Johnson. Don't be so nieve.
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As is usually the case, the general public probably knows 25% of what is going on. Is the physician who has been monitoring Johnson throughout HS a primary care doc or a cardiologist? Was Johnson seen by cardiologists at the U (I assume so)? Has there been a change in his condition? Has the U asked the family to sign some sort of indemnification beyond the standard waiver and they have refused? Did some of the schools who reportedly recruited him back off because of his medical issues (just like most of the big name schools that supposedly recruited Jeff Jones backed off because of his grades)? How much communication was there between U physicians, the athletic dept and Pitino regarding Johnson's medical issues during Johnson's recruitment? Was Pitino making representations to Johnson's family re: medical clearance that was wishful thinking?

I normally can't stand the internal warfare that goes on perpetually at the U. In this case, God forbid something terrible would have happened to Johnson while playing hoops for the school. The university would have been universally criticized for being sloppy and uncaring.
 

It's tough to call Amelia a writer. Sure she puts letters down on the page, but she has struggled in connecting with the University of MN athletic department and thus connect with the audience at the Strib. Her last two articles have come off as more vindictive opinion rather than in-depth research and analysis. (Gotta wonder if Soupcan is mentoring her.) Time will tell, but Amelia may be burning her bridges at the U of MN.

As for Jarvis and his family, I wish for a positive outcome no matter if basketball is a part of that outcome or not. The character of a person is what makes an individual, not the job that you do. Basketball is just an outlet for us to see Jarvis' character. If Basketball is removed, Jarvis can still display the character that makes him what he is. Blessings to the Johnson family.
 

I'm going to remain hopeful and optimistic he is cleared before the start of the season. What is preventing his personal doctors from talking with the U's doctors and figuring out what can be done to clear him? The kid has played high level basketball for years since his initial scare. There has to be a way to make this work.
 

jamiche said:
As is usually the case, the general public probably knows 25% of what is going on. Is the physician who has been monitoring Johnson throughout HS a primary care doc or a cardiologist? Was Johnson seen by cardiologists at the U (I assume so)? Has there been a change in his condition? Has the U asked the family to sign some sort of indemnification beyond the standard waiver and they have refused? Did some of the schools who reportedly recruited him back off because of his medical issues (just like most of the big name schools that supposedly recruited Jeff Jones backed off because of his grades)? How much communication was there between U physicians, the athletic dept and Pitino regarding Johnson's medical issues during Johnson's recruitment? Was Pitino making representations to Johnson's family re: medical clearance that was wishful thinking?

I normally can't stand the internal warfare that goes on perpetually at the U. In this case, God forbid something terrible would have happened to Johnson while playing hoops for the school. The university would have been universally criticized for being sloppy and uncaring.
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Link below the the Children's Hospital and Clinics of Minnesota website for Christopher D. Carter who was mentioned as Johnson's medical provider as quoted by Dave Thorsen.

http://java02.childrensmn.org/finddoctor/SpecialistDetail.do?docid=262927675&_ga=1.252014601.1438972379.1434547934

board certified in internal medicine / pediatrics? yes
board certified cardiologist? yes
Fellowship trained? yes, in pediatric electrophysiology.

The disconnect to me is what did the workup at the U reveal since the last check-up by the above physician and his team? Cardiac work-ups can change over the course of months to years and maybe his latest ECG / cardiac stress test / echocardiogram, etc.... revealed something that previous testing done under Jarvis' care in the Children's health system did not.
 



Winasota Gopher said:
You have to have the ability to string together consecutive complete thoughts to know you shouldn't write that story that way and expect to get more from that source ever again. She's proven incapable of that prerequisite multiple times.

Terrible would be a terrible choice of words to describe her ability as a journalist. She ads nothing, no character, no phrasing, nothing. The only constant in her work is incomplete work.
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Winasota Gopher said:
Let's just remember who wrote that article.

I'm surprised she knew he was a 2015 recruit.
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Lets just not post her articles anymore.
 

The possibility of Jarvis not being cleared by the U existed throughout the recruitment process. Were the Johnson's aware of the fact that their Physician's medical opinion that Jarvis could play was secondary to the University's medical team opinion and that the U would be more conservative in their medical opinion? The Physicians at the U and the legal counsel at the U decided that from a risk management perspective it would be best if Jarvis will not be allowed to play. Not likely that will decision will ever be reversed. Jarvis playing somewhere else perhaps. I believe that he would want to play somewhere with a high end cardiovascular medical team on or near the campus and would need medical clearance before not after the LOI. If the Johnson's and their medical providers feel that the U is being overly cautious in the interest risk management than I would expect Jarvis to explore options elsewhere.
 

The Brain Trust said:
The possibility of Jarvis not being cleared by the U existed throughout the recruitment process. Were the Johnson's aware of the fact that their Physician's medical opinion that Jarvis could play was secondary to the University's medical team opinion and that the U would be more conservative in their medical opinion?
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Well said.

That's the whole key to this thing. To me it's a huge stretch to think the family wasn't made aware of this possible end-game throughout the recruiting process. That said, if Pitino, Teague, or whoever did not alert the family to this possibility (that Jarvis would be tested by the U's medical team/specialists, but perhaps not cleared), that's just plain stupid.
 

Jarvis had the opportunity to explore playing elsewhere, and according to Ryan James a few teams were interested. He decided to stay at the U, and despite Amelia's article, it seems like Jarvis and his mom are satisfied with the situation.
 

The Trib sure gets some clowns as their basketball writers. Guess I'll just read Marcus from now on.
 

howeda7 said:
This is pretty much what I figured since yesterday, despite the 'press release.' Clearly Johnson is livid. I'm guessing Pitino is too. Being a fan of this University and Athletic Department sucks. No matter what obstacles lie ahead, you can take comfort knowing they will make it worse.
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Great post.

Not.
 

All of these comments about the U protecting itself against lawsuits, PR, etc. would make sense except ...

They continue to employ a football coach who has had multiple seizures during games. Which I am 100% okay with, but still struggle how now with Jarvis Johnson they are going to say, feel free to keep coaching with epilepsy Jerry, but Jarvis, that heart thing, please don't you dare put that uniform on.

Obviously there are differences between playing and coaching, football and basketball, paid employee and student athlete, etc. just having a hard time reconciling how the school can in one instance say you have our full support Jerry and we will be looking out for you! When with Jarvis it's, hey good luck kiddo, maybe try basket weaving instead.

And I do say all of that as someone with exactly zero medical knowledge on the differences between Jarvis' condition and epilepsy.
 


scher215 said:
All of these comments about the U protecting itself against lawsuits, PR, etc. would make sense except ...

They continue to employ a football coach who has had multiple seizures during games. Which I am 100% okay with, but still struggle how now with Jarvis Johnson they are going to say, feel free to keep coaching with epilepsy Jerry, but Jarvis, that heart thing, please don't you dare put that uniform on.

Obviously there are differences between playing and coaching, football and basketball, paid employee and student athlete, etc. just having a hard time reconciling how the school can in one instance say you have our full support Jerry and we will be looking out for you! When with Jarvis it's, hey good luck kiddo, maybe try basket weaving instead.

And I do say all of that as someone with exactly zero medical knowledge on the differences between Jarvis' condition and epilepsy.
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Isn't the U looking out for Jarvis by giving him a full scholarship?
 


scher215 said:
All of these comments about the U protecting itself against lawsuits, PR, etc. would make sense except ...

They continue to employ a football coach who has had multiple seizures during games. Which I am 100% okay with, but still struggle how now with Jarvis Johnson they are going to say, feel free to keep coaching with epilepsy Jerry, but Jarvis, that heart thing, please don't you dare put that uniform on.

Obviously there are differences between playing and coaching, football and basketball, paid employee and student athlete, etc. just having a hard time reconciling how the school can in one instance say you have our full support Jerry and we will be looking out for you! When with Jarvis it's, hey good luck kiddo, maybe try basket weaving instead.

And I do say all of that as someone with exactly zero medical knowledge on the differences between Jarvis' condition and epilepsy.
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With Jerry, a seizure is ugly but he'll likely end up fine. With Jarvis, if something happens there is a very good chance he could die. That is the difference.
 

DLguy said:
No surprise that the article from Amelia paints the U in a bad way. For some reason, she has always been negative towards the U. She seems like a negative person who is above everyone else, and it shows in her "journalism".
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Compared to the conclusion jumpers in this thread she is downright POLLYANNA
 


If Jarvis understands the risks and wants to play, he should be allowed to play.
 

scher215 said:
And I do say all of that as someone with exactly zero medical knowledge on the differences between Jarvis' condition and epilepsy.
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I'm not an MD, but here's what I can contribute on this subject based on what education I received in my training.

While epilepsy is nothing to be taken lightly and can be dangerous, vast majority of seizures aren't harmful to the individual. There is a risk of the person getting stuck in a seizure state (referred to as status epilepticus) which can lead to death if the seizure does not break, but this is extremely rare. The most inherent danger to the person is if they fall and hurt themselves during the seizure (or if they happen to be driving, etc). Current medical treatments for epilepsy are very good, and once the right dosing is found for the person they typically stop having seizures.

Johnson's heart condition is a whole different ball game. The heart itself is enlarged and when it is stressed (example, in strenuous physical activity) it can be thrown out of proper rhythm. This can be extremely dangerous, as that can cause strokes, heart attacks, cardiac arrest, and death. Johnson has an implanted cardiac defibrillator, which monitors his heart's function. If at any point it detects that his heart isn't operating properly, it will release a shock to try and get it back into proper rhythm. If it works, great. If it doesn't, there better be an a hospital or ambulance nearby because it's not a good situation.

Long story short, the inherent risk in Johnson's condition is much greater than Kill's. There are a lot of athletes that have enlarged hearts. Reports come out far too often of athletes collapsing in practice or a game, needing to be revived. One of my graduate school classmates had this very condition...25 years old, training for a triathlon. He had an enlarged heart, and it went out of rhythm while he was sleeping after he had gone out for training that evening. His wife woke up to him gasping for breath. He never made it to the hospital.
 

station19 said:
Jarvis Johnson 'in shock' by Gophers' decision to not let him play

http://www.startribune.com/jarvis-johnson-surprised-by-gophers-decision-family-says/307718311/
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From the comment section:

bigrobby24
JUN. 17, 15
9:05 AM
I personally find this story very odd. As a physician, I have performed numerous sports physical exams, particularly in medical school during my Pediatrics and Family Medicine rotations. Essentially, the only diagnosis that would preclude a person from being medically cleared for sports activities is the diagnosis of HOCM, which is the leading cause of sudden death among athletes. However, Jarvis was already diagnosed of HOCM early in high school. His personal physician at Children's Hospital, presumably a pediatric cardiologist, cleared him for play. Jarvis has a defibrillator implanted in him for safety. He is also seems to be doing well with his condition based on the fact that he was able to win MVP at the local basketball tournament recently. Most patients with severe HOCM do have some symptoms, even if they may not readily acknowledge them. What is most perplexing about this situation is that supposedly Jarvis underwent testing for two months by University physicians to quantify and risk stratify his condition. However, I'm not aware of any tests for HOCM that would take that long to perform. In addition, supposedly at the time neither Jarvis nor his family were told told that there was a problem with his condition by these physicians until the meeting with his coaches on June 8. It would be a violation of Jarvis's patient rights for the University physicians to not tell him about his condition and only tell the coaches to make their decision. So, in other words, either the information and timeline in this story have not been reported properly (doubtful because Amelia is great!), or either the University or Jarvis's family is not being totally forthcoming about his medical condition and the timeline that occurred. The whole series of events simply just doesn't make any sense.
 

John Galt said:
If Jarvis understands the risks and wants to play, he should be allowed to play.
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This. ^ It's a whole society of lawyers today. He should be allowed to sign a waiver that absolves the U of guilt.
 

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