Pitt basketball player Kyla Nelson has cancerous appendix tumor

Kyla Nelson, a junior guard on Pitt’s women’s basketball team, has a cancerous tumor on her appendix, the team announced Wednesday. She is set for surgery at the beginning of next month and expects to play this season.

Nelson was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor when she was scheduled for an appendectomy Aug. 26.

“Cancer is a scary word for anyone,” Nelson said in a release. “I feel very lucky that the discovery was made at this early stage. I am grateful to be surrounded by such an amazing medical institution like Pitt and a team that is loving and supportive. My roommate has been great, and I also have a family I can lean heavily on, even with the long distance between us.”

Nelson, 21, is a native of Worthing, England.

A 5-foot-11 guard, Nelson was one of the top 3-point shooters in the ACC last season with a 40.4% field-goal percentage from behind the arc. She played in 30 games, starting eight, and averaged 6.0 points and 2.2 rebounds.

“Although this situation is very unfortunate for Kyla, we are happy to know the prognosis is positive and we were able to catch it so early,” coach Lance White said. “We have the utmost confidence in the UPMC medical team as well as our doctors and athletic trainers at Pitt.”