Everything was looking up for Liam McChesney.
It was the summer of 2023 and the 6-foot-10 forward had just transferred from Illinois State to High Point for his senior season. The fit was perfect. Coach Alan Huss had a vision to fully untap McChesney’s potential, utilizing him as a point-center. After months of intense training, McChesney felt as strong and athletic as ever. “We felt like coming out of the summer, he was our best player,” Huss tells Hoops HQ. “And for sure our most impactful one.”
When the team reported to campus for the start of official practices, each player underwent a thorough medical evaluation. McChesney’s electrocardiogram, a test of the heart’s electrical activity, revealed an issue with one of his valves. The staff referred him to a cardiologist, who recommended that McChesney have surgery to address the matter. Without the procedure, it was too risky for him to continue playing. “It was my only way back to playing basketball, the game that I love,” McChesney says. “And I was just ready to do it.”
A few weeks later, McChesney was on the operating table. His parents, Rick and Jacquie, were incredibly relieved that the condition had been detected, but they also understood that it might mean the end of their son’s basketball career. That thought never seemed to cross Liam’s mind, however.
The surgery, which entailed repairing the damaged valve with a graft, went smoothly. “I just felt really blessed that they found it and they fixed it and our boy was going to be okay,” Rick says. “And then things continued to fall into place. Dr. (Anthony) Caffarelli said the operation couldn’t have gone better and he saw no reason why he couldn’t play basketball again. And Liam’s eyes just lit right up.”
Growing up in the remote port city of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada, just 90 nautical miles from Ketchikan, Alaska, McChesney was first drawn to hockey and swimming. Basketball was not as popular in his small hometown of roughly 12,000, which had never produced a Division I player.
It wasn’t until eighth grade that McChesney’s focus shifted to hoops. Since his high school was an hour and a half away from the closest league opponent, he honed his game playing against First Nations men’s teams in the area. He later gained exposure to college coaches in the United States via AAU and the U17 Canadian national program.
With tremendous size, athleticism and shooting ability, McChesney averaged 30 points, 14 rebounds and five assists as a junior at Charles Hays Secondary School. He was labeled a three-star prospect by 247Sports and courted by several DI programs, eventually committing to Utah State in November 2018. “The word surreal is a great word for it,” Rick says of his son’s recruiting process. “Liam has had high expectations for himself from a very young age. And of course, he has the dream of taking the game as far as it can go.”
Under coach Craig Smith, McChesney redshirted his freshman campaign (2019-20), watching as future NBA players Sam Merrill and Neemias Queta led the Aggies to a 26-8 record and a Mountain West Tournament title before the year was suspended due to COVID.
The following season, McChesney was beginning to carve out a role when he stepped on a teammate’s foot in practice and suffered a broken ankle. The setback was devastating, especially given how long he had been waiting to play. “That was one of the first times that made me really appreciate the game of basketball because it’s so easy for it to get taken away from you,” McChesney says. “It just taught me to be grateful through the process.”
McChesney would miss the remainder of the season as he rehabbed, appearing in just three games and scoring one basket. During the summer, he transferred to Illinois State (a mid-major in the Missouri Valley Conference), where he became a solid role player. Over the next two years, he averaged 5.4 points and 3.2 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per contest, making 27 starts. “I feel like I didn’t go out there and perform like I could have,” McChesney says. “I really feel like I haven’t done that in any of my college basketball seasons.”
Still, there were flashes of McChesney’s enormous potential. In a conference game against Belmont on Dec. 4, 2022, he scored a career-high 25 points on 9 of 12 shooting, to go along with 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. Three weeks later, he recorded 22 points and 4 blocks against Northern Iowa. When he threw his name in the portal in March, he became a top target for Huss and High Point.
“As you search for actual utility in big players, I think it can be divided into three categories,” Huss explains. “You have guys that can play in on-balls that could be lob and roll threats as finishers. You have pick-and-pop guys that can really knock down shots. And then you have pick-and-pop guys that can be ‘next play guys’ — you can throw it back to them and they can go play to the next action and trigger offense. What made Liam interesting was he has the ability to do all three.” Huss envisioned McChesney playing a role similar to NBA stars Nikola Jokic and Domantas Sabonis, often orchestrating the Panthers’ offense. “I was so pumped for that season,” McChesney says.
The excitement was short-lived. McChesney arrived in North Carolina only to find out about his heart condition. In the blink of an eye, he went from preparing for the season to preparing for surgery.
After the successful operation, McChesney faced a long and arduous recovery. When he was laid up in the hospital with tubes coming out of his stomach, it was hard to imagine him returning to college basketball. But as soon as the doctors left the door open for him to play again, McChesney dedicated everything to the cause. “It just comes back to the love of basketball. It’s a special thing and a lot of my emotions are driven towards it,” he says. “I was really determined to not give up and not let my career come to an end just because of an injury or something wrong.”
It was a major uphill battle. McChesney lost 36 pounds, dropping from 208 to 172, and had to rebuild his cardio from the ground up. With significant scar tissue, it took time before he could even take full, deep breaths. “There’s only one direction to go when you’re at your lowest point, and that’s the special part of this,” he says. “I hit rock bottom, so I was excited and interested to see where I could take this thing.”
Amid particularly grueling periods, he questioned whether he could make it back. His family’s unwavering support and encouragement kept him going. “To watch his determination, I was just so proud,” says Rick. “It was a roller coaster ride. It wasn’t straight up.”
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McChesney stayed the course, battling behind the scenes for two years while High Point garnered national attention. With Huss at the helm, the Panthers won back-to-back Big South regular-season championships and made their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2025. Though sidelined, McChesney was one of the team’s leaders, inspiring everyone with his incredible resolve. According to Huss, McChesney had “the best attitude in the building every day.”
Shortly after High Point’s magical 2025 run ended, Huss was re-hired at Creighton — his alma mater — as associate head coach and head-coach-in-waiting. McChesney, who had been practicing in a limited capacity with the Panthers, entered the portal with two years of eligibility remaining and received interest from numerous schools. Ultimately, he chose to follow in Huss’ footsteps, signing with the Bluejays in mid-July.
Since then, McChesney has been easing back into action, readjusting to the speed and physicality of the game. He has climbed to nearly 200 pounds, with plans to put on more weight throughout the 2025-26 campaign. There continue to be ups and downs as his body gets used to competing at such a high level again. On some days, he is able to practice fully; on others, he can’t go at all. Regardless, he is already having an immense impact in the Bluejays’ locker room. “Our guys are certainly aware of what he’s been through,” says head coach Greg McDermott, “and the fact that he still shows up and gives it his best effort every day — that’s an inspiration not just to his teammates, but to all of us.”
Creighton is expected to be a top contender in the Big East, slotting in at No. 3 in the league’s annual preseason poll. The staff is hopeful that McChesney will be able to play this season, but he may need another year to be completely ready. If he can get back to 100 percent, he will be a critical piece for a team with high aspirations. “When he’s healthy and in shape and not working through things, he’s one of our best players,” Huss says. “It’s just a matter of trying to be healthy. He’s got a long way to go before he’s fully into that recovered mode.”
Until then, McChesney will just keep fighting, fueled — as always — by his profound love for the sport. “I’m just not going to give up,” he says. “Whenever the time comes, I’ll be ready to go out there and fight and give it my all, because I have a lot to play for.”
