Ex-college basketball player seeks release from Indonesian prison amid health crisis

Jarred Shaw is imprisoned in Indonesia for a drug offense, his health deteriorating. The former college basketball star is 'asking for sympathy.'

As the hours tick by, former college basketball player Jarred Shaw wonders daily whether his life has come down to this bleak existence and whether he'll ever see his home more than 10,000 miles away.

Jammed into a room no bigger than a typical New York City studio apartment with 11 other men, Shaw is far removed from the familiarity of the camaraderie of a locker room filled with teammates focused on winning a basketball game.

Shaw is one of approximately 276,000 people imprisoned in Indonesia, having been convicted of a drug offense and attempting to return to the United States as his medical condition deteriorates. Complicating matters, Shaw has Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease that, according to the Mayo Clinic, causes swelling and irritation of the tissues in the digestive tract. It can lead to pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss, and malnutrition.Shaw, now 35, has already lost 40 pounds from his playing weight of 245 pounds on a 6-foot-10 frame, and the risk of colorectal cancer is high in people with Crohn’s disease.

“I can wake up any moment and be hospitalized,” Shaw told USA TODAY Sports. “Some days are better than others. It’s not where it needs to be. I still feel sick quite often. I am asking for sympathy, and hopefully a miracle can happen.”

A native of Dallas, Shaw played college basketball at Oklahoma State and Utah State, averaging 14.2 points per game in his final two seasons with the Aggies, and earning second-team All-Western Athletic Conference honors before being selected 18th in the 2015 NBA Development League draft by the Santa Cruz Warriors. Among his professional basketball stops, he has played in Japan, Tunisia, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia.