Texas’ Andrew Jones, who is battling leukemia, gets nice ovation in first game back
By Pete Grathoff
Kansas won convincingly and Duke looked incredible, but the best moment from Tuesday night’s college basketball opener came in Austin, Texas.
That’s where Andrew Jones returned to the court for the Longhorns in their game against Eastern Illinois.
Jones, who is battling leukemia, made a free throw and fans were thrilled, as you can see in the video above. In January, Texas announced that Jones was diagnosed with the disease and he missed the rest of the season.
ESPN reported that Jones went to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for treatment. After being released from the hospital in late February, Jones finished outpatient treatment in August.
Before the season, Jones broke a toe and that was a bit of a setback, according to an Associated Press story. ESPN said Jones faces another round of treatment for leukemia in December.
“Only the strong survive, and that’s been something that I’ve lived by these last couple months,” Jones told ESPN last week. “It’s a choice whether if you want to just continue to go on and fight through adversity, or you can just sit there and let it take over you. Most people don’t have the mental strength or even just the drive to want to do it, but anything is possible. Through the grace of God, anything is possible.”
But Jones was back Tuesday and it was great to see. Here are some other looks at the fan reaction to Jones’ return to the court:
What a scene: Andrew's first bucket for Texas since his leukemia diagnosis and the crowd loves it. pic.twitter.com/k7aPmlomda
Awesome moment. Crowd gives a standing ovation to Andrew Jones who checks into a game for the first time since his cancer diagnosis was announced by Texas in January. pic.twitter.com/iAtVGla5wl
