When the phone call came last April, Caleb Daniels had to find all the discipline, motivation, aspiration and determination he could, writes Mike Nelson for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

 “I literally, like, fell to my knees,” said Daniels, a player with the Villanova Wildcats.

He already knew he had gotten COVID-19. Now he was diagnosed with myocarditis.

It looked like this could be the end of his basketball career. 

To heal his heart, he couldn’t get his heart rate up.

That meant no basketball. But for how long?

 “I took the approach, this is my situation, I’m going to have to deal with it, be a man about it,” Daniels said.

Into the summer, his symptoms started easing. His chest wouldn’t hurt as much.

By September there were no abnormalities.

He worked steadily to get back into basketball shape.

Daniels started in all but one game last season but saw the offseason progress from his teammates and knew this season would be different.  

He’s less a scorer this season, more a defensive player.

Then, another COVID-19 positive test early last month.

Daniels could very well be college basketball’s comeback player of the year.

Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer about Caleb Daniels.