Jordan Roper walked into his statistics exam on March 25, 2013, and was greeted by classmates, including then-Clemson wide receiver Sammy Watkins. When they asked him how he was doing he told them he felt kind of weird. He knew something felt a little off, but he couldn’t quite articulate what was happening to him.

Clemson’s season — and Roper’s freshman campaign — had just wrapped up 11 days prior. Now, in the middle of an exam, he was suffering a stroke.

Still not knowing what was happening to him, Roper made his way over to the weight room for the scheduled lifting period he had with all of the other freshmen on the basketball team.

He came in and went to greet his teammates. At that point, they could tell that something was wrong, too.

“He just didn’t look like himself,” teammate Jaron Blossomgame said. “He was talking but only one side of his face was moving.”

Despite battling through an ailment that’s rare for college students, almost three years later Roper has started all 14 games for the Tigers this season. He’s averaging 9.5 points and 3.8 assists per game for Clemson (8-6, 1-1 Atlantic Coast), who will face Syracuse (10-5, 0-2) on Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the Carrier Dome.

“There’s family history (for suffering strokes) on both sides, my mother’s side and my father’s side,” Roper said. “But, at the age of 19, no one that young had had a stoke.”

After Roper was taken to the emergency room, he saw several doctors who told him that a blood clot probably broke off and blocked the passageway to his brain, which caused the stroke. Still, they couldn’t give him a reason as to why it happened.

Roper wasn’t allowed to practice the entire spring following the stroke. He started again in the summer as Clemson prepared for a trip to Italy, which is where he played his first game since the scare.

Roper didn’t suffer any severe physical side effects from the stroke. Immediately after, he dealt with an occasional migraine, though, and sometimes struggled to articulate his thoughts into words. But he said that he didn’t feel like he lost any of his athleticism or ability to compete.

As Roper regained strength on the court, he started going through periods of depression and anxiety off it, similar to about one-third of stroke victims according to Loyola University Medical Center physicians.

Jordan frequently had deep talks with his father, Eric Roper, and those continued whenever he was facing roadblocks in his recovery.

“Those were probably more deep then you would ever want to get in to,” Eric Roper said. “… It’s a matter of trying to answer questions that you don’t really have the answers to … in terms of how long you’re gonna live, what’s gonna happen in the time that you live, and what you’re gonna do.”

Roper said that playing basketball helped him in the healing process. Sometimes, when he had too much free time, he said he would overthink himself into a bad place. But on the hardwood, he allowed himself to just go out and focus on basketball.

Blossomgame and Roper built a strong relationship together since coming in as freshmen together. The former suffered a compound leg fracture after his senior year of high school. He said that Roper is like a brother to him, and a big portion of their friendship has been predicated on helping each other through their serious setbacks.

On the court, Roper has elevated his game to completely new heights this season. He’s played 31 minutes per game and his 9.5 points per game is the highest he’s had at Clemson. He’s set a career-high with 50 assists this season and he’s just now reaching the halfway point in the season. He was singled out by head coach Brad Brownell in the ACC coaches teleconference after he made a career-high seven 3-pointers to help lead the Tigers to a win over Florida State on Saturday.

Roper — who according to his father was modest to begin with — was humbled by the experience. He can’t explain the stroke and why it happened, but he now considers himself fortunate to still be alive and getting to do what he loves.

“More then anything, I just appreciate to everyday go on the court, be with my teammates, and play ACC basketball,” Roper said. “I’m lucky to play today and I appreciate every moment a lot more.”

Published on January 5, 2016 at 9:15 am

Contact Tomer: tdlanger@syr.edu | @tomer_langer