GRADE-POINT ANECDOTES: Hargreaves back after season lost to blood clot

Ryden Hargreaves knew something was wrong when his right arm swelled up.

He had no idea just how serious it would be.

After the Brandon University Bobcats powered through the craziest travel schedule most of the players had seen, spending more than a week in Puerto Rico before opening the 2025-26 Canada West men’s volleyball season at the University of British Columbia, Hargreaves noticed the swelling.

He had played a few points in the Bobcats’ 3-0 losses to the Thunderbirds, and suited up but didn’t see the floor in a pair of 3-0 wins over the visiting Mount Royal Cougars.

Hargreaves made multiple doctor visits and ultimately saw Dr. Shaun Gauthier, who ran an ultrasound and discovered a blood clot in his right shoulder.

The six-foot-seven outside hitter had deep vein thrombosis, the same condition that prematurely ended Victor Wembanyama’s 2024-25 NBA season.

Hargreaves went on blood thinners, meaning he couldn’t play volleyball due to the risk of cuts or internal bleeding from a hit to the head.

“I looked into it a bit. I saw he had the same thing, same timeline as me,” Hargreaves said. “There wasn’t much I could do other than let it dissolve.

“It was really tough, not being able to play or be active at all for the first bit was tough, pretty depressing, honestly.

“I was still part of the team, but it wasn’t the same.”

Hargreaves had a winding road to get to BU. He graduated from Crocus Plains in 2020, but didn’t immediately pursue post-secondary volleyball.

One year later, he joined the Brandon senior men’s volleyball league and dominated, then committed to the Assiniboine College Cougars — and did the same at the college level.

He transferred to BU in 2023 and fought for every second of court time he could get. By the second half of the 2024-25 season, he found his groove. He piled up 47 kills in the last six matches of the season, including 21 in one weekend against the Fraser Valley Cascades, powering the Bobcats to a pair of 3-1 victories.

Two months later, Brandon won its first-ever national title. By the end of 2025, Hargreaves didn’t know if he’d play again.

“It’s just so disappointing for Harv. He worked so hard to put himself in a situation where he’s battling for court time and opportunities. To hear you’re going to be shut down for the year is a really tough thing to deal with mentally. I just felt really bad for the kid,” said Bobcats head coach Grant Wilson.

“We certainly tried to be cautious with him, and we wanted him involved with the team obviously, because he’s such a great team guy. At the same time, you have to be really careful not to put somebody’s health in jeopardy.”

While soft-tissue injuries, for example, come with their own challenges, athletes can feel progress as they rehab. Mentally, Hargreaves felt ready and capable of helping his team.

He did try to return towards the end of his advised six months off, wearing a helmet. However, he rolled his ankle — “It was the worst one I ever had” — and had to shut it down again.

Wilson said Hargreaves had a good pre-season, but injured his ankle again in the week leading up to the season opener, leaving his status in doubt.

Of course, he powered through and played his first regular-season action since 2025 last weekend, recording a block in BU’s 3-1 loss to UBC Okanagan on Saturday after Brandon opened with a 3-2 reverse sweep the night before.

Hargreaves and the Bobcats are just two days away from their home opener against the MacEwan Griffins.

“It feels unreal,” Hargreaves said. “Last year was a tough year, so just to be back with the team and with the guys has been awesome. Getting in for a bit was sweet, too.”

The Brandonite is healthy now, but certainly still thinks about what he went through, especially since the same illness just ended another prominent athlete’s season. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts had a blood clot in his calf, and ultimately had it spread to his lungs.

Hargreaves recently discussed that with assistant coach Bryce Wilson, quite possibly the biggest Eagles fan in the Wheat City.

“I was talking to Bryce about that the other day; I feel super lucky,” Hargreaves said.

“I had it noticeably in my body without being on blood thinners, where it could have broken off and went to my lungs or my brain or something.

“It puts things into perspective … It makes me appreciate how lucky I am to be on the team and to be able to play.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com