By Ken Reed
In his weekly column on college basketball, Nick Kosmider of the Denver Post touched on the tragedy that stuck Colorado State University (CSU) basketball player Emmanuel Omogbo last month. While on the school’s Ft. Collins campus, Omogbo was given the heartbreaking news that a fire had destroyed his home in Maryland and killed his parents and niece and nephew in the process.
Kosmider did a great job outlining the support Omogbo has received following the terrible accident. It’s a nice antidote to all the negative news in the sports world these days. Here is an excerpt from Kosmider’s column:
As horrific as that tragedy was, it showed the true spirit of the tight-knit college basketball community. Donations to CSU’s GoFundMe account set up for Omogbo poured in from across the country. Wyoming star Josh Adams implored the supporters of his team, a Border War rival of the Rams, to donate anything they could. Other college basketball players across the country took to social media to express their support.
My former colleague Don Williams of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal chronicled the path of Omogbo’s junior college coach in Levelland, Texas, Steve Green, who jumped in his car and drove all the way to Colorado just to let Omogbo know he was there for him. Green then drove back the same night.
This all came on top of the varied and unwavering support provided to Omogbo by CSU’s administration, coaches and players, the latter group having chipped in to purchase their grieving teammate a TV, simply because he didn’t have one.
The bond of a team has been tested in Fort Collins, and in this way the Rams and college basketball have triumphed in the face of tragedy.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
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