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What could have been a promising final two years of Allan Chaney's college basketball career at Virginia Tech vanished Wednesday.
Chaney, a 6-foot-9 former blue chip recruit at Florida, will not be medically cleared to play for the Hokies due to a heart condition that came to light a little over a year ago.
Last April, he fainted on the court following a workout on the Tech campus and was diagnosed with viral myocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart muscle that can cause scarring. The scarring later became an issue, and despite searching across the country for solutions, he appears to have run out of options.
Tech coach Seth Greenberg told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that Chaney will get a defibrillator for his heart after clearing some more hurdles
"Allan Chaney has been through a great deal in the last year and a half," Greenberg said in a statement. "Everyone in our basketball program feels for him. We will do everything in our power to assist Allan as he goes through his next procedure and support him in every way possible."
Chaney was ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 96 overall prospect in the 2008 senior class, and in his lone season with the Gators averaged 3.0 points and 2.1 rebounds a game in reserve duty. He sat out the 2009-10 season per NCAA transfer rules and missed the entire 2010-11 season while dealing with his condition. The Times-Dispatch added that Chaney said on his Twitter feed, which is private, that he intends to try and play at another school.
However, it appears most likely that Chaney's career will end here, in similar fashion as that of another once highly-touted recruit from the 2008 crop — Emmanuel Negedu.
Negedu played in 33 games for Tennessee in 2008-09, but the following fall collapsed while running, losing both consciousness and his pulse. He was fitted with an internal defibrillator, Tennessee offered to keep him on scholarship, but wouldn't let him play.
He then transferred to New Mexico, and played in 10 games last year, averaging 4.7 points and 5.4 boards, before being pulled out of a contest against The Citadel when the defibrillator produced a reading that forced doctors to keep him on the bench. He officially gave up hoops this April, but opted to stay at New Mexico.
As tough as it was, Negedu ultimately made the best choice for his long-term health and well-being. From the sound of it, he might be someone who Chaney would be wise to reach out to for a second opinion.
Ryan Greene also covers UNLV and the Mountain West Conference for the Las Vegas Sun. Read his Rebels coverage and follow him on Twitter.