Heart Condition Ends Notre Dame Player’s Career

Monty Williams, a Notre Dame basketball player, appears to have a heart condition that could kill him during extreme exertion and has ended his career, the school said Friday.

Dr. Stephen Simons said tests indicate the 18-year-old Williams of Forest Heights, Md., probably has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

“With that diagnosis, there is an undue and unacceptable risk of sudden death,” Simons said.

Williams, a starter as a freshman last season, said he was grateful the disease was diagnosed. “I was very lucky to get a second chance,” he said. “I wasn’t on the court and died like Hank Gathers did.”

Gathers, a Loyola Marymount player, collapsed on the court March 4 during a West Coast Conference tournament game in Los Angeles and died 1 hour 40 minutes later. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be unknown cardiomyopathy, a heart disorder.

Williams’ condition, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, is a structural defect resulting in the heart muscle being bigger than it is supposed to be.

The diagnosis of Williams’ condition grew from an “extra heart sound” noticed Sept. 4 during a preseason physical examination.