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    • Tragic and Sudden Deaths of Young College Basketball Players, a List of those unfortunate players

    by admin in Basketball History | Comments Off on Tragic and Sudden Deaths of Young College Basketball Players, a List of those unfortunate players

    It makes us shocked and grieved whenever we hear news about the sudden death of a young emerging player. Fortunately, these tragic incidents occur quite rarely, but whenever happen, they leave a devastating impact on everyone. Here, we have compiled a list of those young college basketball players who seemed to have bright future in professional basketball but the death did not gave them a chance to prove themselves and their promising careers came to an end even before getting a start.

    Hank Gathers

    Hank Gathers was a popular college basketball of the Loyola Marymount University. On March 4, 1990, while playing a quarterfinal game against Portland in West Coast Conference tournament, he suddenly collapsed on the floor just moment after scoring a dunk; he tried to get up but could not do so and lost his consciousness. He was declared dead on arrival at nearby hospital. He was just 23 years old and autopsy found that he suffered from a heart muscle disorder, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

    DeAndre Adams

    DeAndre Adams played basketball for the Winthrop University. On May 12, 2007, he dropped off a teammate, after playing a game in Atlanta Summer League. On his way to the home, he tried to miss a tree that fallen across the roadway during the thunderstorm. Unfortunately, the vehicle flipped and crashed into another tree. He fell into coma and was placed in ventilator before he passed away on May, 16.

    Jed Bedford

    Jed Bedford was a prolific three-point shooter and the captain of the Columbus State University basketball team. 21 years old, Bedford had an enlarged heart. On December 14, 2003, during a practice, he collapsed on the court and died one hour later. He was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Medical examination showed that cardiac arrest was the cause of death and his heart was about two times the size of a normal heart at the time of death.

    Kevin Brophy

    Kevin Brophy, a guard on the Georgia Bulldogs basketball team died in a car crash on July 20, 2006. He was driving towards the home when his car collided with another vehicle on highway; near Greensboro. He suffered fatal injuries and died at the scene.

    Jeron Lewis

    21 years old, Jeron Lewis was the basketball player of the University of South Indiana. On January 14, 2010, Lewis was playing a game against Kentucky Wesleyan College, about 4 min before the end of game, his feet tangled under the basket and he fell down on the floor with head hitting first. He was transported to a nearby medical center where was announced to be dead. It was thought that he died of the head injury which he suffered after the fall, but autopsy revealed that there was no sign of the head trauma instead it was found that he had an enlarged heart and he might have died of the heart problem.

    Patrick Dennehy

    Patrick Dennehy was a college basketball player of the Baylor University; he was shot to death by a teammate Carlton Dotson. After missing for six weeks since June, 2003 his badly- decomposed body was found near the Waco campus in July, 2003 and was taken to medical center for an autopsy. It was confirmed that Dennehy died of gunshot wounds to the head. His teammate Dotson was charged with murder and was sentenced to 35 years in prison after murder trial.

    Wayne Estes

    Wayne Estes played basketball for the Utah State University. He was the third leading scorer in the history of Utah State. On February 8, 1965, Wayne Estes played the last game of his college career. After playing the game against the University of Denver, Wayne and his some friends were heading to the home. They saw a car accident scene near the campus and stopped to see it. Because the car hit a telephone pole, a wire was hanging down more than 6 feet off the ground. While crossing the street; Wayne brushed against the downed high power wire and was fatally electrocuted.

    Nate Fleming and Dan Lawson

    Nate Fleming and Dan Lawson, both were the players from the Oklahoma State basketball team. They died in a tragic plane crash, on January 27; 2001.Three planes were carrying back Oklahoma State staff and players, after a loss against the University of Colorado. On there way back, one of three planes crashed in a snow storm near Byers, Colorado, killing all 10 people on board, including Nate Fleming and Dan Lawson.

    Ryan Francis

    Ryan Francis was the rising player of the University of Southern California Trojans Basketball team. He was gunned down on May 13, 2006, when he was driving a car in his hometown. As he pulled up the car on the signal, the driver of another car got out and opened fire. The murderer was recognized as the 19 years old, D’Anthony Norman Ford, who had been involved in a dispute with Francis earlier that night. Francis was shot multiple times and could not survive.

    Chris Daniels

    Chris Daniels, the player of University of Dayton basketball team, was a top field goal shooter. He died of cardiac arrest on Feb, 8, 1996. At home, Daniels had a heart attack, he was taken to the hospital immediately but all the resuscitation efforts went in vain and he died at a young age of 22.                      

    Danny Rumph

    Danny Rumph was a standout point guard for the University of Western Kentucky basketball team. On May 8, 2005, Danny and his friends went to a recreation center basketball court in Philadelphia, for a pick up game. At the end of the game, when he was walking across the gym floor to pick up his bag, he suddenly collapsed and died. Danny had a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which caused cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death.

    Chris Street

    Chris Street was a basketball player for the Iowa Hawkeyes. On January 19, 1993, he was having a team dinner at the Highlander Inn outside of Iowa City. After the dinner, he was driving the car, when he was on the highway, his car struck with a snow plow, leaving him injured and later on, dead.

    Evansville Plan Crash, Killing 14 College Basketball Players

    December 13, 1977, will always be remembered as one of the most tragic days in the history of basketball, when a plane carrying the entire men’s basketball team of the Evansville University, crashed near the Evansville Regional Airport. It was a cold, fog-filled evening, when the team boarded a DC-3 chartered plane to play a game against Middle Tennessee State in NCAA Division I. About 90 seconds after the takeoff, the plane crashed in the field, killing all 29 passengers, including 14 young basketball players from Evansville. The 14 players were Warren Alston, Ray Comandella, Mike Duff, Kraig Heckerdorn, Mike Joyner, Kevin Kingston, Barney Lewis, Steve Miller, Keith Moon, Mark Siegel, Greg Smith, Bryan Taylor, John Ed Washington and Tony Winburn.




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