ME: Fmr. CFCC basketball player died of heart condition

WILMINGTON< NC (WWAY)  — The athletic community is mourning the loss of a former CFCC basketball player Tyrek Coger today.

Ty was a transfer from CFCC where he played for one year before achieving his goal of going to the next level to play at Oklahoma State University.

“He was thrilled, he was working and excited,” said CFCC Men’s Basketball coach Ryan Mantlo. “He was actually coming here in two weeks, so he was excited to come show off what he had done, so we were happy for him.”

According to KOCO News in Oklahoma, the Medical Examiner’s office determined Coger’s death was caused by a heart condition.

Officials said Coger, 21, died of cardiomegaly with left ventricular hypertrophy, which is the result of an enlarged heart. The heart’s muscular left ventricle became abnormally thick. Coger died Thursday evening after a 40-minute workout on the football stadium stairs, school officials said. The team called paramedics shortly before 5:10 p.m., when the temperature in Stillwater was 99 degrees.

“Making that phone call to a mother; there’s no words,” said Oklahoma State Coach Brad Underwood at a press conference today. Underwood described the past two days as some of the hardest in his career.

Coger graduated from CFCC in May and had only been at Oklahoma for 17 days.