Ethan Dietz, a sophomore member of a junior college basketball team in Oklahoma, died Tuesday after suffering an injury during a game several days earlier. He was 20.
A spokesperson for the Connors State College program said via email that initial reports indicated Dietz had suffered an unspecified head injury. The incident occurred during a game Saturday at Grayson College in Denison, Texas.
Connors State said in a message shared on social media Sunday that Dietz had been taken to a hospital, where he was receiving care. On Tuesday, the school said Dietz had died that morning.
“Ethan exemplified what it means to be a Cowboy, to value hard work and being part of a team,” the school said. “While the team and the Cowboy community are processing our own grief, our hearts go out to his family and friends.”
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Calling Dietz “the kind of player a coach always hopes for,” Coach Bill Muse said in a statement that he “was talented athletically and academically and he understood the importance of hard work. If you ever saw him smile, you knew he was all heart. He was a person of character as well as a great teammate.”
A forward listed at 6-foot-8 and 214 pounds, Dietz played high school basketball in Vilonia, Arkansas. He was a key contributor for Connors State, averaging 11.0 points in 26.4 minutes this season, after he helped the program reach the championship game of the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I tournament last season.
Connors State went to the final as the 17th of 24 seeded teams, ultimately seeing its Cinderella bid end with a loss to Trinity Valley (Texas) Community College. The school described the run by the “Cardiac Cowboys” as built on a rallying cry to win one for Muse’s late wife, who died unexpectedly in December. She also was the mother of Bill Muse Jr., an assistant coach with the Cowboys.
On Tuesday, Connors State College President Ron Ramming said of Dietz’s death, “It is devastating when such a bright light is taken from us.”
Footage of the game against Grayson shared by Tulsa station KOTV showed a sequence in which Dietz posted up a defender on the left block, received a pass and made a move to the basket as two other Grayson players converged. Dietz appeared to take some degree of contact as he tried to get around the defenders, and he immediately headed off the court and toward a gymnasium wall, holding his head. The footage showed him remaining there for a moment, in apparent discomfort, before walking toward the Cowboys’ bench while escorted by teammates.
A game scheduled Wednesday for the men’s basketball team was canceled, as was one set to take place against Grayson the following Monday. The women’s team also had cancellations of a game Tuesday and another scheduled for Saturday.
The school said it was offering grief counseling to students, faculty and staff. A vigil in Dietz’s honor is scheduled for Monday on CSC’s campus in Warner, Oklahoma.
“Ethan’s loss reminds us all how precious life is and how much those around us impact our lives,” the school said Wednesday. “As we move through this loss together as a community, let’s be inspired by Ethan’s spirit, friendship and love.”
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