Two European professional basketball teams short-listed Tyler Whitney-Sidney for the 2025-26 season. They loved what the Somerville native showed during a decorated four-year career at Lehigh University, and saw the 6-2 guard as a tantalizing prospect.
But instead of inking a contract shortly after graduating with a political science degree last June, Whitney-Sidney sat outside of a Melrose cardiologist’s office in tears. The heart issue he persevered through in college had gotten worse. Forget professional basketball, this bicuspid aortic valve required open-heart surgery.
“It was super deflating for me,” Whitney-Sidney said. “You go your whole career [waiting for] my dream, what I’ve always wanted to do. And then you get that news.”
Roughly 15 months later, after a successful surgery and recovery, the 24-year-old has authored one heck of a comeback story. He’s headed to Lapua, Finland, to compete for the Kobrat (Cobras) in the Koripallon I-divisioona, the second-tier of Finnish professional basketball later this month for his first professional basketball contract. It’s a one-year deal.
“A lot of people in my situation probably would’ve hung it up,” Whitney-Sidney said. “I feel like my life has been kind of built on overcoming really hard things… This was the first one in my life that was super internal. It wasn’t anyone saying I couldn’t, I just wanted to prove to myself that I can.”
A Somerville start
A third-generation Somerville resident, Whitney-Sidney attended Somerville Public Schools from kindergarten through 10th grade before finishing his high school career at the Brooks School in North Andover.
On paper, his path seemed obvious. The top-ranked point guard in Massachusetts coming out of high school with a plethora of Division 1 scholarship offers, a post-college professional basketball career appeared certain, as long as Whitney-Sidney developed.
That he did at the school he ultimately chose, Lehigh. Whitney-Sidney moved into a starting role part way through his freshman season and never gave it up, finishing his college career with three All-Patriot League honors. His 1,475 points rank 13th in the Mountain Hawks program’s 50-plus year history. The two-time team MVP also earned Academic All-Patriot League honors as a senior, and graduated in May of 2025.
The elephant in the room
During Whitney-Sidney’s annual physical before his freshman season, doctors found a heart murmur and high blood pressure. An EKG showed a bicuspid (leaking) aortic valve, but Whitney-Sidney never felt any symptoms. Recurring tests throughout college cleared Whitney-Sidney to play. But he needed to present the results of a physical exam to professional teams. And his revealed disappointing news.
“I went into that [exam] with a bad feeling,” Whitney-Sidney said. “You know when you just go in and you’re like, ‘I’m gonna get news that’s gonna hurt?’ I knew that down the line this would be something I’d have to get taken care of.”
At home, it was a touchy subject. “The elephant in the room” said his longtime girlfriend Jaydah Bonilla.
“It was very difficult to see someone so active in life just kind of stuck in bed,” Bonilla said. “It got depressing at times.”
Whitney-Sidney underwent open heart surgery on December 26, 2025, at Mass General Hospital in Boston. Suffice to say, it went as well as it possibly could’ve. It took roughly four hours and Whitney-Sidney says his surgeon, Dr. Jordan Bloom, remarked on his heart’s strength.
New beginnings
After six weeks of bedrest, Whitney-Sidney started light physical activity in March. And that same month, he and his longtime girlfriend Jaydah Bonilla became parents. Their daughter, Violet Whitney, was born on March 11.
The proud new father started to go to Somerville High School hoops games and embarked on a workout plan. His mood shifted.
“You saw life start to come back into him,” Bonilla said. “Ever since then, it’s just been on the up and up. I don’t think he’s missed a day. He’s been so disciplined and kept on track with his health.”
After passing multiple stress tests and other medical milestones, doctors cleared him for full physical activity the first week of July, most of which he did in the Somerville YMCA, where he worked as an operations associate. He also deepened his relationship to the community, speaking to the captains of Somerville High School’s athletic teams, and training youth basketball players at his annual D1 Skills Night held at East Somerville School with local AAU program MoveDifferent.
Whitney-Sidney lost muscle and fitness during the recovery process, and was frustrated at first, said Alexei Downie, a close friend of Whitney-Sidney’s who worked out with him throughout the comeback. But, he says, Whitney-Sidney “never waivered.”
“He just has the confidence that the basketball part was fine, it was just getting the conditioning back,” said Downie, Somerville High School Class of 2021 and a Greater Boston League All-Star during his days with the Highlanders. “I feel like the added challenge and the added pressure of having his daughter and the heart surgery made it that much sweeter for him when it happened. He pushed through all of that and his mindset is even stronger than it would have been had he just gone out of school to play pro ball.”
Upon his clearing, Whitney-Sidney’s agent, Sweden-based Olle Hansson, started making calls to professional teams. Many showed interest initially, but backed out once they learned about Whitney-Sidney’s medical history, including three Whitney-Sidney spoke to directly.
He finally signed with a Finnish team the last week of August. The regular season runs through mid-March, and could last until late April with a long playoff run. He’ll be one of three American “imports” on the team, which plays a three-hour train ride outside of Helsinki.
“I’m super excited to get to show my skills to the world,” he said, “get back to who I am… [and] do it on a bigger stage.”
A stronger
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