Remarkable recovery for McKinney

OMAHA, Neb. — Tyler McKinney wondered 10 months ago if he would ever see out of his right eye again, let alone play basketball.

The Creighton senior was in excruciating pain from an infection that had invaded his eye and would require two cornea transplants.

Basketball should have been the furthest thing from his mind. But the possibility of returning to the court motivated him during his recovery, and now, sooner than anyone but perhaps McKinney thought, he is back as the Bluejays starting point guard.

Jim McKinney, Tyler’s father and a prison warden in Rockwell City, Iowa, remembers the day last spring when doctors tried to give Tyler a pep talk about all the successful people who have use of only one eye. This month, Jim McKinney got to listen to his son being introduced before the Bluejays’ first game.

“I have to admit I got a little choked up,” he said. “It was nice to see him run out on the court again because we didn’t think that was going to happen.”

Tyler wasn’t so sure, either.

“Right now the eye feels normal,” he said. “But then I think back to March and April, when I didn’t know if I would see again.”

McKinney leads the Bluejays in minutes through three games, and his assist-to-turnover ratio is 4 to 1. He’s averaging 4.3 points.

“It’s fun to see Tyler out on the court again,” Jim McKinney said. “He has that smile again.”