Oklahoma JUCO basketball player dies from injury suffered during game

WARNER, Okla. (AP) — A basketball player at a junior college in Oklahoma who was injured during a game has died, school officials said.

Connors State College sophomore Ethan Dietz died Tuesday after he was injured during the second half of a game Saturday in Texas, the school said in a statement posted to its Facebook page. A spokesperson for the college, Shannon Rigsby, said 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 a 6-foot-8 forward from Vilonia, Arkansas, who was averaging 11 points per game through eight games this season.

A vigil in his honor was scheduled for Dec. 1 at the college’s campus in Warner, Oklahoma.