Senior Anthony Johnson prepares to take a free throw against CCSU (Peter Caty/The Mirror).
Something just felt wrong. Anthony Johnson was trying to play through pain, but couldn’t figure out what it was. Neither could head coach Ed Cooley or any of Fairfield’s team of trainers or doctors.
And then it got worse. After games against Rider and Manhattan that the Lake Wales, Fla. native could barely finish, he could sense that his body just wasn’t right. He was fatigued, slower and simply not the same basketball player he or Cooley was used to.
Then it hit him like an elbow to chest, but harder. He couldn’t breathe well, he was in extreme pain and he didn’t know what to do.
A visit with Director of Sports Medicine Mark Ayotte and a trip to the health center led to a rush to the hospital, where doctors would catch a blood clot in his lungs, just in time.
Johnson would spend the next few weeks in the hospital, regaining his health while doctors helped him fight off the blood clot with medication.
But it was a closer call than anyone was comfortable with. Cooley said that if the blood clot was not caught when it was, Johnson’s life could have been in danger.
“We had five or six games where we kept saying, what’s wrong with him, what’s wrong with him,” Cooley said. “When we got the news it really was devastating, not from the fact that we lost a good player, but it was a life-threatening situation. Going to the hospital five, six days in a row, it was tough.”
Once his health was back to the point he could leave the hospital, Johnson was hit with even more bad news. Doctors told him they were not sure if he would ever be able to play basketball, the game that saved him from a rough childhood in Florida, ever again.
“When I first got hurt, I really didn’t know what was wrong, but once they told me what was wrong and that I couldn’t play basketball, it was like the worst thing in the world,” Johnson said.
While the rest of his teammates tried to battle through an injury-plagued season to fight into the MAAC Tournament, Johnson was forced to sit on the sidelines, an unfamiliar place for him.
“It was the hardest thing ever, since I started playing I had not sat on the sidelines for a long period of time. Especially being out for the rest of the season,” Johnson said.
As a junior, Johnson was averaging 9.2 points with 7.4 rebounds in 21 games before the blood clot struck.
For Cooley it was even harder to watch Johnson sit on the sideline. Johnson, Cooley’s first recruit, represents everything he has tried to do with the Fairfield program.
“He committed to us when I took the job here. To see how he has grown, how he can articulate himself, getting him out of a region to where he trusted the community here,” Cooley said. “I think Fairfield has raised this kid the last four years. Not so much just the basketball team, but the entire Fairfield community, has embraced him and given him the opportunity to do great things in life.”
When the season ended in March with a loss to Siena in Albany at the MAAC Tournament, the hard work was just starting for Johnson. He was determined to play again and finish his Fairfield career the way he always envisioned; going out on top and with a chance to make basketball a career.
Throughout the summer, Johnson would wake up and work out, not even knowing if he would ever be able to play. On top of that he had multiple trips to doctors, who were constantly monitoring him. Johnson said simply, “it was hard,” but the look on his face as he said it clearly showed the pain he endured over the summer. By the time Fall rolled around, Johnson was cleared to play. But it was not an easy decision.
“I met with [athletic director] Gene Doris, Mark Ayotte, and they consulted with all the doctors who did everything and it really became an easy choice because it was his choice,” Cooley said. “I am extremely nervous about it, when you see him cramping up and stuff like over the last two or three games, we have to be aware of that. But I am happy he is with us.”
Senior Anthony Johnson puts the ball up against CCSU (Peter Caty/The Mirror).
The cramping Cooley speaks of is the one physical reminder of the ordeal Johnson went through.
Cooley and Johnson’s doctors are not sure what is causing the cramping, but in both games this season, he has had to leave the court because of it. After the Stags win over Fordham, Cooley said that they will have to find a way to keep Johnson more hydrated, even if it means hooking him up to an IV at halftime.
Mentally, Johnson says that he has grown because of the situation he was in last season, which made him realize how important basketball is to him.
“I have always felt basketball is the best thing to do. I love playing basketball. But I mean, being on the sidelines, it helped me become more of a leader,” Johnson said. “I knew I couldn’t be down, even though it was the worst thing being on the sidelines, I knew I couldn’t be down because my teammates were looking.
“So, it made me into a better man and a better leader,” Johnson added with a smile.
For Cooley, the best thing right now is that trademark smile of Johnson’s. Cooley said that he is “thrilled” to have Johnson back on the court.
“The fact that we are seeing him smiling and enjoying himself is great,” Cooley said. “You know what, I think he is Fairfield’s kid, that is the best way to say it.”
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