by Staff Report , USA TODAY

Creighton guard Josh Jones will undergo a procedure to address a heart problem that caused him to pass out before a game against Nebraska last week.

Coach Greg McDermott says Jones had an atrial flutter on Dec. 6. Doctors plan to perform an ablation on his heart next Tuesday to restore a normal heart rhythm. Doctors will examine his heart in another test a month later to determine if the first procedure worked.

“After about a month, they’ll do a second procedure and make a determination whether he can return to basketball or if more time is needed,” McDermott said at a Wednesday press conference. “The good news is that Josh is going to be fine long term.

“He doesn’t have to make a decision about basketball right now. And if he does decide he’s done playing, he’ll have my support 100 percent. The thing is that he does not have to make a decision now.”

It won’t be clear until after the tests whether Jones can return to playing basketball for the 16th-ranked Bluejays (9-1). When Jones was a senior at Omaha Central High, he underwent open-heart surgery to replace his aortic valve after a bacterial infection in his heart.

Jones was averaging 20 minutes and 7 points a game for the No. 13 Bluejays.

“It’s unreal the love I have received,” Jones said at the press conference Wednesday. “People have reached out to me, not only from Bluejay nation but from around the country. I just want to tell them, with or without basketball, I’m still the same Josh Jones. I can still have the same impact.”

Contributing: The Associated Press

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