Gonzaga's Tyon Grant-Foster cleared by NBA's fitness-to-play panel

Jun. 17—Tyon Grant-Foster overcame a series of setbacks to play at Gonzaga last season and recently cleared the final hurdle needed to pursue a professional career in the NBA.

Grant-Foster, who suffered multiple life-threatening heart incidents during the early stages of his college career, was cleared to play in the NBA by the league’s fitness-to-play panel, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.

The 26-year-old isn’t widely considered to be an NBA Draft prospect by analysts and pundits, but also wasn’t eligible to compete in key scouting events such as the NBA Draft Combine or G League Elite Camp. Up until now, Grant-Foster also couldn’t participate in individual NBA workouts due to complications from a heart condition that was discovered during his first season at DePaul in 2021-22.

Grant-Foster made 35 appearances in his lone season at Gonzaga, starting six times while averaging 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks. The team’s second-leading scorer after forward Braden Huff went down with a season-ending injury, Grant-Foster shot 47.5% from the field, 26.2% from the 3-point line and 61.1% from the free throw line.

The well-traveled wing played two seasons at Indian Hills Community College from 2018-20 before transferring to Kansas for one season in 2020-21 and then DePaul in 2021-22. Grant-Foster collapsed during halftime of DePaul’s season opener, suffering from a heart condition known as arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy. He was sidelined the remainder of the season before collapsing again during an offseason pickup game.

After undergoing cardiac arrest on two occasions, Grant-Foster had a defibrillator implanted and was cleared to return to the court for the 2023-24 season, when he transferred to Grand Canyon. Although he was cleared to play college basketball, Grant-Foster was deemed “medically unfit” by the NBA’s fitness-to-play panel after his defibrillator was inadvertently activated on Dec. 4, 2023, and then again on Feb. 20, 2025.

Coming off two productive seasons at Grand Canyon, Grant-Foster committed to Gonzaga last spring but required an NCAA waiver to earn a final year of eligibility. The sport’s governing body denied Grant-Foster’s initial waiver and multiple appeal attempts, but he was eventually cleared by Spokane County Judge Marla Polin, who granted the wing’s preliminary injunction one week before Gonzaga’s season opener against Texas Southern.