WARNER, Okla. — Ethan Dietz, a sophomore basketball player at Connors State College in Oklahoma, died Tuesday from an injury suffered during a game Saturday, school officials said.
Dietz, a 6-foot-8 forward from Vilonia, Arkansas, was injured during the second half of the game in Texas, the school said in a statement posted to its Facebook page. A spokesperson for the junior college, Shannon Rigsby, said that initial reports indicate Dietz suffered some kind of head injury but that she didn’t have any more information.
“Ethan exemplified what it means to be a Cowboy, to value hard work and being part of a team,” according to the statement from the school. “While the team and the Cowboy community are processing our own grief, our hearts go out to his family and friends.”
Messages seeking comment were left Wednesday with the college’s athletic director and men’s basketball coach.
Several of the college’s men’s and women’s basketball games were canceled following Dietz’s death.
Dietz was averaging 11 points through eight games this season.
A vigil in his honor is scheduled for next Monday at the college’s campus in Warner, Oklahoma.
