Former Florida State center Michael Ojo died on Friday after collapsing during training in Serbia, his former team Red Star Belgrade said. He was 27.
The Nigerian-born basketball player was taken to a hospital in the Serbian capital, but doctors failed to resuscitate him, Belgrade media reported.
"The sudden and shocking death has deeply shaken everyone in the club," Red Star said in a statement.
Michael Ojo of Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade gestures during the 2019/2020 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 28 match between Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade and Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall on March 6, 2020 in Belgrade, Serbia. / Getty Images
Ojo was reported to have tested positive for the coronavirus, but also that he had recovered. Local media reported that he died of a heart attack.
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After going undrafted in 2017, Ojo moved to Europe where he started his professional basketball career with FMP Belgrade. In 2018, he signed with the regional Adriatic League champions, Red Star Belgrade, where he was hugely popular among the club's fans.
"Farewell good giant," said a post on a Red Star fan page.
Ojo averaged 6.3 points and 3.3 rebounds in the ABA league and 4.1 points and 3 rebounds in the EuroLeague with Red Star.
The Belgrade club released him at the end of this season and Ojo was believed to be looking for another team in Europe.
The towering 7-feet-1-inch center wore shoe size 21 and Nike reportedly had to spend $15,000 on a machine to create a size to fit him while he played college basketball in Florida.
CBS affiliate WCTV reports Ojo graduated from FSU with his bachelor's degree in international affairs.
"My degree is something I owe my family," Ojo said in a profile with FSView. "I promised my people, because they know American culture can change anybody to anything, so I promised them just that I would be the same person I am and get my degree. I won't let anything distract me from school, my degree is something I promised my people and I will get it."
nickmillerwallet on August 7th, 2020 at 18:37 UTC »
i hope the day comes when echocardiograms are super cheap and portable so even student athletes at the high school level can get a quick scan to identify potential fatal issues ahead of time
edit : to be clear - i'm talking about an ECHOcardiogram (an ultrasound) not an Electrocardiogram (paper tracing)
y2knole on August 7th, 2020 at 16:34 UTC »
Ojo was a great young man and a fan favorite in his time at FSU.
Really tragic and sad to read this morning :(
48ever on August 7th, 2020 at 16:31 UTC »
Damn. I hate seeing people die so young before they even lived life. RIP Michael.