ESPN Men's Basketball

New Mexico forward Emmanuel Negedu got a second chance at a college career when he transferred from Tennessee and secured a waiver from the NCAA allowing him to play immediately. Doctors there cleared the sophomore to play despite Negedu's sudden cardiac arrest in 2009.

But after 10 games as a Lobo, Negedu's career is now finished. The school announced this on Thursday after ruling him out indefinitely in December, and he never returned. The issue? A "bad read" on his defibrillator.

"The most important thing about the situation is Emmanuel's health," New Mexico coach Steve Alford said 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."

Negedu averaged 4.7 and 5.4 rebounds, with his absence hurting the team's depth as it failed to make the NCAA tournament. Without him, the Lobos should still be fine next season as they could be one of the favorites in the Mountain West Conference.

Forward Drew Gordon averaged a double-double after becoming eligible in December, and guard Kendall Williams was the league's freshman of the year. New Mexico has transfer guard Demetrius Walker available next season as well.

According to the Albuquerque Journal, Negedu has no regrets.

"I'm just happy," he said. "People are like, 'oh, E-Man can't play anymore, oh E-Man can't play anymore.' But the people I'm with are like dads to me. I'm happy. The medical staff has been taking great care of me. …

"I want to get a degree and all that. If I still want to play basketball, and everything's good for me, I might decide to play."

As far as getting a second chance at New Mexico, Negedu said, "Everything's been good. I made a good decision coming down here. I gave it a shot. All I needed was a shot. Nobody gave me that when I was in Tennessee; a second chance. And I had that."

Here are five things I can’t wait to see in the Mountain West this season:

1. Jimmer Fredette’s senior season

Rare is the college star with NBA potential who stays for his senior season these days, so let’s savor being able to watch Fredette play in a BYU uniform for one more season. After scoring 37 points in a first-round NCAA tournament win against Florida showcased his skills on a national stage, Fredette went down to the wire with his decision to withdraw from the draft. His return gives the Cougars a chance to go even further this season since he has the ability to put the team on his back and score at will. The 6-foot-2 guard is the conference’s preseason pick for player of the year, and it should be a great scene when his hometown of Glens Falls, N.Y., rolls out the red carpet for him Dec. 8 against Vermont.

2. San Diego State at Gonzaga

Are the Aztecs deserving of the preseason hype? With one of the most highly anticipated games of the season’s first week, we’ll find out a lot about SDSU when it travels to Spokane on Nov. 16 as part of ESPN’s Tip-Off Marathon. San Diego State is the preseason favorite to win the Mountain West, and Gonzaga should be a measuring stick for where the Aztecs stand nationally. With all five starters coming back, they have the experience to win this doozy, which features two of the top sophomores in the nation -- Kawhi Leonard and Gonzaga’s Elias Harris. The game is part of an important stretch for the Aztecs, because they open the season with a five-game, three-city road trip before getting to play their home opener.

3. Drew Gordon and Emmanuel Negedu

Plenty of transfers have found the Mountain West to be a soft landing spot, and New Mexico brings in potential difference-makers in forwards Drew Gordon and Emmanuel Negedu. Negedu is particularly worth watching because he missed last season with Tennessee after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest and having an internal cardiac defibrillator implanted in his chest. When the Volunteers wouldn’t clear him to play, he came to New Mexico and got immediate eligibility by appealing to the NCAA. Gordon hopes to make good on a second chance as well once he becomes eligible in December. A highly touted recruit at UCLA, Gordon averaged 11.2 points and 5.3 rebounds last season, but left the program after clashing with Ben Howland. If this frontcourt duo can establish itself quickly, the Lobos will have a shot at repeating as conference champs.

4. How good can Kawhi Leonard be?

If Leonard began last season somehow overlooked after winning Mr. Basketball of California, he made sure people took notice after a 16-point, 21-rebound performance in the conference tournament championship game. As a freshman, Leonard led the league in rebounding (9.9 rpg) and led San Diego State in scoring (12.7 ppg). What’s next for the 6-foot-7 star forward? Becoming a threat with his outside game as a sophomore could turn him into an early entrant in the NBA draft. But first comes the possibility of him leading the team to a deep run in the NCAA tournament. As a veteran squad, the Aztecs have enough scorers to turn to that Leonard doesn’t have to carry the load every game. But by season’s end, count on him to be the go-to guy.

5. How does Tre‘Von Willis respond?

UNLV leading scorer Tre’Von Willis disappointed coach Lon Kruger and Rebel fans with his involvement in a domestic incident that led to his arrest in June and a no-contest plea to a misdemeanor charge. But how will the senior respond? His suspension lasts at least one regular-season game and could be extended if he doesn’t meet Kruger’s expectations. He won’t be able to play in two exhibition games, either. And don’t forget, Willis is also recovering from minor offseason knee surgery in August, and that kept the guard out of Friday’s team scrimmage. It’ll be interesting to see how he comes out of the gates after a turbulent offseason.

San Diego State returns nearly its entire Mountain West Conference tournament championship team, earning a No. 24 national ranking from Andy Katz and even respect coming from a rival player who Aztec fans love to taunt.

BYU star Jimmer Fredette told the Las Vegas Sun's Ryan Greene that if he couldn't pick his own team to win the MWC, he'd go with San Diego State.

There's certainly reason to be high on the Aztecs. Steve Fisher's team has an emerging star in conference freshman Kawhi Leonard while returning all five starters and eight of its top nine scorers.

San Diego State has won at least 20 games in each of its past five season and might very well be the best bet to return to the NCAA tournament as it plays in what's expected to be a strong conference once again.

Defending regular-season conference champion New Mexico behind the strength of point guard Dairese Gary should get better as the season goes along, having to incorporate transfer Drew Gordon and Emmanuel Negedu while losing player of the year Darington Hobson to the NBA draft.

BYU has conference scoring champ Fredette leading the way, but backcourt sidekick Tyler Haws is off to serve his Mormon mission and once-emerging guard Michael Loyd Jr. is stunningly expected to transfer to a Division II school.

UNLV has a major question mark as well as star guard Tre'Von Willis faces a felony battery charge (one other charge has been dropped).

All that quite possibly leaves San Diego State as the team to beat in the MWC.

When New Mexico signed Emmanuel Negedu, the former Tennessee player who collapsed after a practice and was forced to find his basketball future elsewhere, it accelerated an already complicated scholarship logjam for Steve Alford's program. Alford brought in four high school recruits and a host of transfers this spring, and with Negedu's addition, it became clear someone on the Lobos wasn't going to be back in 2010-11.

Sophomore forward Will Brown read the tea leaves, got nervous, and decided to take matters into his own hands. So Brown sent a letter -- a handwritten letter, believe it or not -- to the Albuquerque Journal stating that he had no intention of leaving. Brown apologized for his "actions throughout the season" and said he "loved this city with all his heart" and "will be here to continue playing basketball."

Turns out, he won't. On Wednesday afternoon, New Mexico announced that Brown's scholarship wouldn't be renewed for 2010-11, due to "repeated violations of team policy." The press release was short (even by typical press release standards), containing only two paragraphs and a single quote from Alford that promised to help Brown "find other opportunities."

In a way, it's hard to lump Brown's situation in with the usual runoff archetype -- the sleazy practice of jettisoning a bench player thanks to a coach's desire to add an incoming recruit -- we see so often in college hoops. Lots of runoff players don't have apparent behavioral issues. It's hard to criticize New Mexico for getting rid of a player that apparently violated team rules so often he felt it necessary to apologize in a handwritten letter to the local rag.

At the same time, it was just Tuesday when the Lobos trumpeted Brown's participation in a team event designed to help adoption-eligible Albuquerque youths find adoptive parents. Brown was one of several players on hand at the event, playing basketball with the kids and coordinating team activities. Reading between the lines would suggest that Brown was back in the program's good graces. Um, apparently not.

Power forward Emmanuel Negedu is set to sign with New Mexico, and Lobos sophomore forward Will Brown has sent a letter to the Albuquerque Journal essentially pleading to stay on the team.

The issue of scholarships has come up with New Mexico. Coach Steve Alford added four high school players and three impact transfers to next year's roster, and Brown apparently doesn't want to be the odd man out.

After Darington Hobson stayed in the draft the Lobos continued to recruit Negedu, knowing his commitment would put them over the scholarship limit. Of course, scholarships are in reality one-year agreements and do not have to be renewed.

The 6-foot-8 Brown, who played in all 35 games and averaged 4.2 points and 3.6 rebounds, wrote in a handwritten note that he has "no intentions of leaving" and then apologizes to the coaches and teams for unspecified "actions throughout the season" while asking for forgiveness.

Whether or not that's going to allow him to stick with the defending Mountain West champs remains to be seen. Already, sophomore guard Nate Garth has transferred. The flip side of adding a ton of talent might be leaving others feeling just a bit unwanted.

In the end, Emmanuel Negedu found a school willing to let him play basketball. Whether the school should have given him that chance is another matter entirely.

After suffering a cardiac arrest during a workout at Tennessee's football practice facility last November, Tennessee officials told Negedu that they wouldn't clear him to play for the school again, but would allow him to finish his scholarship if he wanted to remain at the school. (Negedu was cleared by Tennessee's doctors, but the athletics department wouldn't acquiesce.) Negedu wanted to play basketball, though, so he took his hopes elsewhere -- most notably Indiana, where doctors again cleared him before university officials stepped in and ended the flirtation.

After all that, Negedu landed at Steve Alford's New Mexico program, and he seems pretty happy about it:

"Coach (Steve) Alford told me he had already talked to the legal department there to get that cleared, and I just had to see the cardiologist,'' said the 6-foot-7, 220-pound Negedu, who visited New Mexico earlier this week. "That went well, so I got my dream back. I'm happy and I'm excited.'

“There will always be a place in my heart for Tennessee no matter where I go, and I would love to stay here but this is working out for me to follow my dream and do what I do best. I know they will understand, and I give them my love.’’

There are some conflicting issues here. The first is that Negedu is by all accounts an unusually intelligent and well-liked guy, that he will be sincerely missed on Tennessee's campus, that his talk of dreams isn't just boilerplate, that he really wants this and is determined to do it. In a way, it's good to see him getting a chance to do that, and you can't help but wish the guy the best of luck as he goes about rebuilding his basketball future.

The problem here is that Negedu's heart stopped. There was a decent chance, had Tennessee medical staff not reacted so quickly, that Negedu would have breathed his last breath in November. Now Negedu has a defibrillator a few inches below his chest plate, a stopgap against an unregulated heartbeat. Saying it literally doesn't make it any less unbelievable, when you really think about it. He has a machine in his body to make sure his heart works properly. See what I mean?

Maybe Negedu can play basketball with minimal worry -- it is possible to participate in athletic activity with a defibrillator -- but do you really want yours to be the school that plays that delicate risk-reward game? Indiana looked desperate in its willingness to entertain the idea. In taking Negedu on, Steve Alford looks something altogether worse: reckless.

Negedu will suit up this fall, his basketball career beginning again. Let's hope his heart cooperates. If it doesn't, New Mexico -- one school that couldn't say no to Emmanuel Negedu, risks be damned -- will, for better or worse, look uncomfortably responsible.

Emmanuel Negedu's name may ring a bell. Negedu is the Tennessee Volunteers player who suffered sudden cardiac arrest while racing a teammate on Tennessee's indoor football practice field in November. Negedu had been lifting weights, was doing some post-workout goofing and collapsed suddenly. Negedu had to be revived by Tennessee's training staff. During his stay in the hospital, doctors implanted a pacemaker into Negedu's chest. After months of examination, Tennessee's athletics department decided Negedu could not be cleared now or ever; his career at UT was over.

It seemed safe to presume that Negedu's career as a basketball player was over, too. If Tennessee wouldn't clear their own player -- a good player at that -- who else would? Apparently, that was premature: Negedu is apparently attempting to return to college basketball at Indiana, according to GoVolsXtra:

The former Tennessee forward visited the Big Ten school last weekend and is waiting for a call back.

"I took my visit to Indiana and everything is going in a good direction,'' said Negedu, who has three years of eligibility left. "Now, I'm just waiting.'' [...] UT coach Bruce Pearl said he talked to Negedu about succeeding in other facets of life, but Negedu is intent on returning to basketball. After investigating his condition and talking to others who have experienced the same condition, Negedu remains determined to play basketball again.

If Negedu was fully healthy, this would be a big coup for Indiana and Tom Crean, who is in desperate need of talent heading into his third year in Bloomington. Negedu's AAU team was based in Bloomington, and the Hoosiers recruited him before he landed at Tennessee. Negedu was the No. 23-ranked player overall in ESPNU's class of 2008 and the No. 8-ranked power forward in the country; he would immediately give IU an injection of talent that Crean wasn't able to provide in his meager 2010 recruiting class.

Except Negedu isn't healthy. I'm not a doctor, and I didn't stay at a discount motel chain last night, and I know next to nothing about cardiac disease except that smoking cigarettes and eating red meat are bad for you. But the facts are simple: Negedu's heart stopped. It stopped during a workout. His school, Tennessee, refused to clear him to play for the program, like, ever again. Negedu says he has been cleared to play by a doctor in California, and it is possible to participate in sports with a pacemaker, but the pacemaker itself doesn't necessarily prevent heart attacks; whatever underlying issue Negedu does have (assuming he has one) could still be there, waiting to strike at any time.

Because of Negedu's condition, this makes Crean and company look more than a little desperate. Of course the 21-year-old will still want to play basketball. It's up to his advisers and coaches to prevent him from doing so if playing basketball poses a serious risk to his health. Tennessee's doctors thought it did, and they ended his career then and there. Maybe they're wrong. But does Indiana really want to risk it?

You might remember Emmanuel Negedu. Nedegu is the 21-year-old Tennessee forward that collapsed in a workout in early October, suffering -- how's this for scary? -- sudden cardiac arrest while racing a teammate on Tennessee's indoor football field. Negedu had just completed a weightlifting session and had appeared to be in perfectly good health prior to his collapse.

Nedegu was rushed to the hospital after the incident. He was later given a cardiac defibrillator to monitor his heart's rhythm and energy. At the time, Tennessee officials said Negedu wouldn't play the rest of the 2009-10 season, preferring to wait until after the year to assess the player's long-term chance of getting back out on the court.

Now it's official: Tennessee brass has consulted with doctors and reviewed relevant medical studies regarding Nedegu's condition and decided that it won't clear the forward to play college basketball at Tennessee in the near future. Just like that, Emmanuel Negedu's basketball career is over.

Naturally, this is going to be a bummer for Negedu; it's hard for seniors with heart conditions to give up their favorite athletic activities, let alone for a 21-year-old whose basketball ability no doubt played a central role in his identity. But, Nedegu could have died. That he didn't is a credit to modern medical science. That he won't have to deal with that sort of scare again is a credit to Tennessee's athletic trainers and medical staff. Nedegu's story is pretty sad, but it could have been a whole lot sadder.