The University of Nebraska in Omaha confirmed Sunday the death of men’s basketball player Deng Mayar, who drowned In Blackridge reservoir in Herriman, Utah, on Saturday. He was 22.
This season Mayar joined the Omaha program via the transfer portal. The resident of Salt Lake City spent the last two years of his career in North Dakota and made 15 starts for the fighting hawks over 42 total performances.
The police responded on Saturday around 5:40 pm to a 911 call in which two people in need report in the reservoir. Two individuals struggled in the water. One pulled the coast, but Mayar continued to struggle. The other person, along with several bystanders, came back to help the water in an attempt to help Mayar, but could not save him.
It is said that Mayar went under water about 35 meters from the coast, and authorities carried out search efforts to find his body, per ABC4. A immersible robot found him at 10:40 am, divers recovered him 20 minutes later and declared him died. His family was present during the search.
“We are devastated to learn from the death of Deng,” said Omaha -Kanselier Joanne Li and athletic director Adrian Dowell in a joint statement. “On behalf of our university community, our love and sincere participation with his family are in this difficult time. We also wish his friends and teammates in Omaha, North Dakota and Salt Lake City Family, peace while they process this tragic loss.”
Mayar on average 5.7 points per match for his career in North Dakota and helped accompany the Fighting Hawks to a Summit League Tournament Semifinals -appearance last season. He made an intraconference relocation to UNO at the end of the campaign.
“Our entire program has been destroyed to learn from the death of Deng,” said Omaha -Coach Christ Crutchfield. “After we had compete against him for two years, we were delighted to add him to our team and he made enormous progress this summer. Deng was a pleasure to be in the neighborhood and make our culture better. We will miss him enormously. Jodi and I, together with our entire program, sent our hearts and prayers to Deng’s family, friends and teammates.”
The North Dakota program also offered its condolences.
“Our hearts are broken to hear the tragic news of the death of Deng,” said Paul Sather, coach of Mayar in North Dakota. “He was a great person with a heart the size of a gym. Our thoughts are with his parents and family, together with all his teammates from Und and Uno. As competitive as he was on the field, he had a soft nature and friendly soul of the field. Deng will be missed enormously by everyone who knew and loved him.”
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