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SoCal College News & Commentary

San Diego State's Sad News. . .(10/23/97)

Geez, we don't really want to continue to bring "bad" news, and I suppose that this one really falls more into the "human interest" category rather than bad news, because the story may yet have a happy ending. The San Diego Union-Tribune today ran a story by staff writer Hank Wesch; because the paper isn't online, we present the details here:

In 1994 Fred Trenkle came to San Diego State to coach the Aztec men's basketball team. He was also looking forward to coaching his own son, Brady, a 5'-11" guard, now a junior. Father-son combo. Pretty cool.

The plan worked for a few years. In the 1994-95 season, Brady played in 26 games and started in one. His primary role was to give the starters a breather. But he also developed a good handle, and a pretty nice touch from the outside with his long-range jumper, and helped SDSU with key three-pointers in games against Wyoming and BYU. In the 95-96 season he redshirted, then returned last season and played in all 27 games, fulfilling the same role he had grown accustomed to, except he was getting better all the time.

This year Brady was looking forward to possibly starting for his dad's team, and was working hard in the preseason conditioning drills. He set personal bests in timed runs. He lifted more weight than he ever had before. He felt great and was doing fine.

Then, something strange started to happen. He began to feel lightheaded. His vision started to blur. He began to see double. Not when he was running or working out, but only when he stopped. He thought it was only his asthma, but the trainers were worried. It kept happening. He knew something was wrong with his body, but he didn't know what. The trainers at SDSU checked him out, and found that he had high blood pressure.

Brady's only 21.

The lightheadedness and double vision kept occurring. The SDSU staff sent Brady for further tests to Drs. Peter M. Hoagland and Jeffrey Anthony of the San Diego Cardiac Center. Their initial conclusion was that they weren't sure what the problem was. They cleared him for practice and for Midnight Madness.

Brady knew something was wrong: "My legs were fine and when I was exercising I felt fine. When I stopped, I'd feel bad and things would happen."

After Midnight Madness, the doctors ran some more tests. What they found alarmed them. They immediately told him he couldn't play. They told him that at 21, he had high blood pressure, an enlarged heart, and an irregular heartbeat. To someone without a history of heart problems this is not good news. To someone like Brady, who's family had a history of heart disease and early deaths from heart problems, it was especially bad news.

Brady's grandfather, Fred's dad, had died of heart failure a a young age. Fred had also experienced an irregular heartbeat and had rheumatic fever as a youngster too. But Fred says it didn't stop him from playing two years at the College of Southern Idaho, and then two more years at Idaho State. But, now Fred had to consider more than just the welfare of his own team; this was about his son's life.

"It's a downer to the team and to me as a coach," Fred said after telling the assembled team that Brady wouldn't be playing with them for now, and possibly never again. "But as a father, of course you realize that the rest of his life is a heck of a lot more important than basketball."

As Fred informed the team, Brady stood under a nearby basket, shooting a few hoops now and then. When the team broke into practice, he didn't join them. "I was really looking forward to this season, and I know it's not totally decided that it's over," Brady said. "I never would have thought I'd have to deal with something like this so early in my life. I'm only 21."

For now, the doctors aren't sure whether the situation is one which will prevent Brady from rejoining the team. They think it might just be a virus, but they aren't sure. For now, the jury's still out. Brady's still hoping to return. He'll wear a heart monitor for a few days, undergo a few more tests. And he'll continue to shoot hoops, even if he can't run with the team. For now.

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