Todd Holthaus is an imposing dude. He is 6 feet, 8 inches tall and even at 55 looks almost invincible, like he could dunk a basketball the way he did for Grand Canyon University 30 years ago.
Pima’s head coach Todd Holthaus gathers the Aztecs for last-second instructions before the tip-off against Scottsdale in the NJCAA Region I, Division II semifinal at Pima Community College West, March 7, 2024.
But about six weeks after he coached his Pima College women's basketball team to the NJCAA national championship game last spring, Holthaus stopped as he walked out of his primary care physician's office and made a better decision than he has ever made through his 559 victories at Pima and Flowing Wells High School.
"I was getting ready to walk out the door after my annual physical, a pretty routine exam, when my doctor asked 'is there anything else on your mind?'" Holthaus remembers. "I told him that every once in a while I can feel a flutter in my heartbeat. I'm not sure why."
In an instant, the doctor told Holthaus not to leave. An EKG test followed.
"My doctor's face turned white," says Holthaus. "He said, 'Todd, you're heart is in AFib.'"
Atrial fibrillation is a serious condition that causes an irregular heartbeat and increases your risk of stroke and heart failure.
Holthaus was put on blood-thinner medication. "I saw cardiologist after cardiologist," he says. "Two weeks later I had a cardioversion procedure, shocking my heart back into rhythm. It worked for a while but then the irregular heartbeat returned. I had another cardioversion and everything seemed fine."
But on May 31, two weeks after his annual physical, Holthaus got up to take the family dog out for a morning walk. He returned to bed, slept for an hour or so. He was light-headed and not feeling well.
"The next thing I remember is there were paramedics hovering over me," he says. Holthaus spent the weekend at TMC hospital. He had another cardioversion. It didn't work. Two weeks later, he had a cardiac ablation, a procedure that uses energy to destroy a small area of heart tissue that is causing arrhythmia.
Holthaus, who has won 459 games in 18 seasons as PCC's women's basketball coach, twice finishing No. 2 in the nation, is making his heart issue public in an attempt to warn others who have a heart flutter but may think it's harmless.
"February is Heart Disease Awareness month in America," says Holthaus. "I don't like putting the spotlight on myself, but telling my story may help someone with a heart flutter to see their doctor and get it checked out. It doesn't have to cause a stroke or be fatal."
Holthaus' off-season routine — recruiting and training his highly-ranked basketball team — became secondary for the first time since he began coaching at Flowing Wells in 1998.
After his ablation, he spent a month wearing a vest with a monitoring and shocking device to alert him to AFib events.
"It was scary," he says. "I had to stay home and lay low all summer. I relied on my assistant coaches, Pete Fajardo and Felicia Greenhouse, to do the recruiting and lead the team through workout sessions. My wife, Jennifer, was a rock star. She was the one who first alerted me to the flutter in my heart, which probably saved my life. I truly wondered if I'd ever coach again."
By the time Pima opened its official training camp in September, doctors told Holthaus his heart was strong and back in rhythm.
"Looking back, I'm pretty blessed," Holthaus says. "Pete and Felicia took care of the team. They made sure everything remained status quo. And maybe I got an extended warranty on my heart."
Once Holthaus returned to the court, the Aztecs also returned to power. They are 18-4 and have been ranked as high as No. 5 in the NJCAA poll. A return trip to the NJCAA championships — it would be Holthaus' 11th — will probably spin on a Feb. 25 showdown with long-time rival Mesa College. The Aztecs and Mesa have split their first two games this season.
"It looks like they're stuck with me now," Holthaus says, chuckling. "I'm not coaching any differently. If anything, I have more peace of mind. The doctors cleared me to return to the court and this year has been like a shot of energy. I'm blessed to do what I do."
