Warner, Okla. – Ethan Dietz, a second-year basketball player at Connors State College in Oklahoma, died Tuesday from an injury he 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 at Texas, the school said in a statement posted on its Facebook page. Junior college spokeswoman Shannon Rigsby said initial reports indicated Dietz suffered some kind of head injury, but she had no further information.
According to the school’s statement, “Ethan exemplified what it means to be a cowboy, valuing hard work and being part of a team.” “While the team and the Cowboys community contemplate our own grief, our thoughts are with his family and friends.”
Messages seeking comment were left Wednesday with the college’s athletic director and men’s basketball coach.
Several college men’s and women’s basketball games were canceled following Dietz’s death.
Dietz averaged 11 points in eight games this season.
A vigil will be held in his honor next Monday on the college campus in Warner, Oklahoma.
