Ethan Dietz, a junior college basketball player at Connors State College in Warner, Oklahoma, died on Nov. 25 after suffering a head injury during a game in Texas three days earlier, his family’s attorneys said. In statements released this week, the attorneys alleged that the team did not provide proper medical care immediately after the injury and put Dietz back on the court.
Michael Holden, representing the family, said Dietz had been struck by another player’s elbow. Holden’s statement also said Dietz was denied immediate medical evaluation and was returned to play after the hit, allegations that the college did not address directly in its written response.
The school’s spokesperson did not respond to questions about what kind of medical care Dietz received after the injury, and Connors State College provided limited details about how he was hurt. In a statement released Thursday, the school said caring for Dietz’s family, the team and the Connors State College community was its “top priority” as they mourned the death, and it said the college was unaware of any active or pending litigation.
Holden said Dietz joined his team on the two-hour bus ride home and was later taken to a hospital after having seizures in his dorm room. Holden added that the law firm was investigating the death but had not filed a lawsuit.
According to Holden’s statement, a coroner who examined Dietz’s body reported the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head and a collection of blood between his skull and brain. Telephone and email messages seeking information from the Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s Office were not immediately returned, according to Holden’s account of the investigation.
Dietz was 20, from Conway, Arkansas, and played for the junior college basketball program. The statements described him as a 6-foot-8 forward and said he averaged 11 points per game through eight games last season.
Connors State College announced several weeks after Dietz’s death that Bill Muse—its longtime men’s basketball coach and athletics director—was stepping down from the program for “personal reasons.” In a statement provided through Holden, Krystal Dietz said her son dreamed of becoming a Division I basketball player and described his year-round work to pursue that goal, adding that he did not get “the time” to see it through.