Report: Five-star USC freshman Vince Iwuchukwu recovering from heart attack in July

Terrible news out of Los Angeles. According to a report from CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander, incoming star USC freshman Vince Iwuchukwu was hospitalized after suffering cardiac arrest during a Trojans practice in July.

“This past summer I had a sudden cardiac arrest during a workout,” he told CBS. “Since the event, I have received optimal care from the university and my personal expert medical team. Currently, I am adhering to the standard protocol designed to ensure my health and safety. I’m feeling great and my recovery and rehabilitation remain positive,” he added.

Norlander added more details in a later tweet:

“I was told Iwuchukwu’s incident happened in between drills and he was not standing up (like Keyontae Johnson) when he suffered cardiac failure. Most importantly, he appears to be doing well and is in good spirits. But any kind of timetable on USC clearing him is hazy and TBD.”

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An extremely scary situation this past summer, but one that Iwuchukwu thankfully appears to be recovering from. He has not returned to any team activities yet nor is there a timetable for him to. All focus is on his health before a return to basketball can ever be considered.

Four-star center Vince Iwuchukwu, from San Antonio, TX and Southern California Academy was the nation’s No. 31 overall prospect, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average. On3 ranks Iwuchukwu as the No. 36 player overall, the No. 7 center and the No. 6 player from California in the 2022 class.

As for replacing him on the basketball court, USC is really in a bind. Iwuchukwu was such a promising recruit. And he was likely to be next in line among the tall, lanky and extremely talented Trojan centers of the past few seasons. Similar to the likes of Isaiah and Evan Mobley. Hopefully everybody will get to see the talented youngster on the court again.