Out of high school, Tuohy was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds to play baseball, but turned down the offer to attend college.
With sports as his "meal ticket" through high school and college, Tuohy left New Orleans for the University of Mississippi on a basketball scholarship.
[12] Drafted by the NBA's New Jersey Nets with the 218th pick (Round 10)[13] in 1982, he opted to continue his career overseas before returning to the U.S. to be with his father in his final days.
In August 2023, Oher filed a lawsuit alleging that Tuohy and his wife did not adopt him and had instead tricked him to signing a conservatorship.
Instead, it was done to ease the NCAA's concerns over Oher wishing to attend the University of Mississippi, a school where the Tuohys were boosters.
[20] A judge ended the conservatorship and declined to dismiss the lawsuit in September 2023,[21] and the Tuohys later told the court they would remove all mentions to Oher being adopted from their website and public speaking advertisements.