Longhorn star recruit cleared to practice

The University of Texas received some good news on Thursday when prized recruit Gary Johnson was cleared to practice with the team, despite an undisclosed heart ailment.

Johnson, a 6′6″ 210 pound forward from Houston, was diagnosed with a heart ailment this past June and was held out of all team-related conditioning and practice activities. Team trainers gave Johnson the green light to begin practicing with the squad on Friday, but did not clear him to compete in any pre-season or regular season games. Longhorn trainers want to monitor Johnson’s condition further before allowing him to play in any games.

You never like to hear about athletes dealing with heart conditions, especially after the tragic losses of players like Reggie Lewis and Hank Gathers. I hope that the UT coaching and training staff exercises extreme caution with Johnson. With the loss of superstar Kevin Durrant from last year’s team, the Longhorns were counting on Johnson to make an immediate impact on this year’s team.

Hopefully, his heart will allow that to happen…