ANCHORAGE – After speaking with the Gilbert family, University of Alaska Anchorage men's basketball head coach Rusty Osborne announced Friday that junior guard Tyson Gilbert has undergone successful open-heart surgery.

The procedure to correct a very rare congenital heart defect, an anomalous right coronary artery, was performed Thursday by doctors at Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora, Colo.

Gilbert will remain in the hospital for observation for the next 5-6 days, and doctors expect a full recovery. He will remain in Colorado for the remainder of the fall semester while completing his online classes, and will return to campus for the spring semester.

"Following an unexpected fainting episode during an off-campus pick-up basketball game, Tyson contacted the coaching staff and UAA Athletic training staff," Osborne said. "Per the Sports Medicine protocol, our Student Health Center and Sports Medicine staff arranged a series of extensive testing during September that revealed the defect. Tyson and the Gilbert family are grateful to all the outstanding medical professionals who helped them over the last seven weeks.
 
"It is our understanding that once he has completed rehab, Tyson will be back with us 100 percent. He will not participate this year but we expect he will be able to resume his career as a Seawolf during the 2021-22 season. Tyson is an unbelievable young man who has attacked this setback with an extremely positive outlook. The seriousness of the situation cannot be understated, and we are delighted that what could have been tragic, has instead become a blessing. We give credit to our Sports Medicine staff and team doctors who care for our student-athletes, as well as the surgeons, doctors, nurses and staff of the Children's Hospital Colorado and the UC Denver ACHD program for the remarkable care they are providing."

On Friday, Gilbert also released the following statement via Instagram:

Back in September, I found out some news that changed my life. I was diagnosed with a rare congenital heart defect that required open-heart surgery to repair. I felt broken once I heard the news. I started questioning God … "why me"?
 
Now I realize that this news was actually a blessing. Not only was a threatening situation corrected, I am now positioned to be the best version of me.

I want to say thank you for all of your prayers and encouraging words! I am super excited to see what God has in store for me. This is just a minor setback for a major get back!

The Gilbert family would like to thank everyone for all the prayers and well wishes, which have served as great encouragement through this time. They also ask the public to please respect the privacy of the family as Tyson recovers.