Not saying Creighton would have won the game, but this definitely couldn’t have help their frame of mind. I am sure their bus was excited and jubilant, but then to see this happen had to be a downer.
About 10 minutes into the trip from the hotel to the arena, Creighton head coach Greg McDermott noticed the driver getting sick. The driver, Bill Burrus, pulled the bus over and then slumped onto the steering wheel.
Creighton’s team doctor, Doug Ramos, and his wife, Tammy, also a physician, were traveling in a SUV behind the bus. They, along with Mary Jo Merfeld, a cardiac nurse and the wife of Creighton assistant coach Steve Merfeld, managed to get Burrus out of the bus.
They provided care until emergency service personnel arrived about 20 minutes after Burrus had stopped the bus. A new driver was dispatched, and the trip continued, with the Bluejays arriving at the Coliseum shortly before 4 p.m., about a half hour later than planned.
Unfortunately we have no update if the driver is ok. We do send our prayers out to his family and friends.