FGCU’s Ricky Doyle recovering after lifesaving operation

FORT MYERS, Fla. The FGCU men’s basketball team finishes the regular season Thursday at home against Stetson University.

A victory over the Hatters would guarantee the Eagles the number one seed for the conference tournament, and all of this is being done with a former Big Ten conference player on the bench.

Ricky Doyle, a Bishop Verot Catholic High School alum, was forced to sit out this season after transferring from the University of Michigan due to NCAA rules, as well as a tumor.

“I just kept having these stomach pains for a long time and I just kind of pushed them off,” he said. “One day, I just had to go to the hospital and it turns out that my appendix has been burst for two months…they found a tumor about the size of a softball and they had to cut 6 inches of my colon out.”

The tumor was non cancerous, Doyle said, and his body formed it naturally around the burst appendix to prevent poison from seeping out and killing him.

Doctors believe the medicine Doyle is on for his sleep apnea dulled the pain to the point where he didn’t realize how severe the tumor was.

He’s recently been able to increase his workload and start lifting again.