{"id":248,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/248","headline":"Missouri freshman DJ Jones receives heart transplant","dek":"The 18-year-old offensive lineman had successful surgery Wednesday night and is now recovering, head coach Eli Drinkwitz announced.","body":"Missouri freshman offensive lineman Johnnie \"DJ\" Jones received a heart transplant Wednesday night, head coach Eli Drinkwitz announced Thursday morning. Jones, 18, had been hospitalized after team medical staff flagged an issue during standard freshman intake, and he had been placed on a heart transplant list before the surgery took place.\n\nDrinkwitz said the surgery was successful and that Jones is now recovering. \"We are incredibly grateful for the medical team who cared for DJ and for the donor and donor family whose extraordinary gift made this possible,\" Drinkwitz posted to his social media account. He asked for continued prayers for Jones, his family, the donor family and his caregivers as the recovery process begins.\n\nJones had been hospitalized at the Mayo Clinic in Florida. Drinkwitz addressed the situation during his weekly media availability before the update on the transplant was announced. The coach said the program will continue to share updates on Jones' recovery when possible.","published_at":"2026-10-08T20:29:03.514505+00:00","source_count":4,"written_from":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Missouri football freshman Johnnie Jones receives heart transplant","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/missouri-football-freshman-johnnie-jones-141345299.html"},{"outlet":"CBS Sports","publisher":"CBS Sports","title":"Missouri freshman DJ Jones receives heart transplant after team health staff flagged issue","url":"https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/missouri-freshman-dj-jones-heart-transplant/"},{"outlet":"The Athletic","publisher":"The Athletic","title":"Missouri freshman offensive lineman receives heart transplant, recovering after surgery","url":"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7671455/2026/10/08/missouri-freshman-offensive-lineman-heart-transplant/"},{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"Mizzou freshman Jones receives heart transplant, recovering in hospital","url":"https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/50132416/missouri-johnnie-dj-jones-receives-heart-transplant"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz says freshman Johnnie 'DJ' Jones receives a heart transplant","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/missouri-coach-eli-drinkwitz-says-151953651.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz reveals freshman receives heart transplant in emotional message","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/missouri-football-coach-eli-drinkwitz-151410322.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Venice grad, Missouri freshman Johnnie Jones receives heart transplant","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/venice-grad-missouri-freshman-johnnie-172309063.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Mizzou Receives Uplifting News About Freshman Johnnie Jones","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mizzou-receives-uplifting-news-freshman-194338252.html"}],"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}