It's not been an easy six months for Pitt's James Conner.
As a sophomore, Conner racked up 1765 yards rushing and scored 26 touchdowns, winning ACC Player of the Year honors in 2014 for his prodigious efforts.
A Heisman candidate coming into 2015, Conner–a 6-foot-2, 230-pounder–tore the MCL in his right knee during the Panthers' season-opening win against Youngstown State, causing him to miss the rest of the season.
On Thanksgiving, Conner was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma but refused to let his misfortunate affect his mentality.
From SportingNews.com:
“When I heard those words — ‘You have cancer’ — I admit I was scared,” Conner said. “But after thinking about it for a bit, I realized that fear is a choice. I choose to not fear cancer. I choose to fight it and I will win."
Today, the first steps back to normalcy after a hellish six months were made and Conner was back on the field for Pat Narduzzi's Panthers.
#ConnerStrong #24 #H2P pic.twitter.com/mAURBcN2rx
— Pat Narduzzi (@CoachDuzzPittFB) February 13, 2016
Welcome back, Conner.
Source: @CoachDuzzPittFB
