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Heartbreaking News Scuttles Isaiah Austin’s NBA Dreams

Baylor University men's basketball center, Isaiah Austin Photo Credit: rushthecourt.net Baylor University men's basketball center, Isaiah Austin

File this one under heartbreaking.

I heard this story about Isaiah Austin's fate while listening to ESPN's Mike and Mike this morning.

Austin was making preparations for this year's NBA Draft, which is only three days away.

He was all set to light up the NBA despite his partial blindness.

However, Austin's trip to the NBA, as a player is not in the cards. A pre-Draft physical uncovered a rare genetic disorder that affects his heart.

The former Baylor center, who left school early to enter this week's NBA draft, has been diagnosed with Marfan syndrome, which affects the body's connective tissue.

Features of the disorder are most often found in the heart, blood vessels, bones, joints, and eyes. Some Marfan features – for example, aortic enlargement (expansion of the main blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart to the rest of the body) – can be life-threatening.