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In a heartbreaking turn of events, the 22-year-old basketball player, Deng Mayar, who played for the Omaha Mavericks from the University of Nebraska Omaha, passed away in a tragic drowning accident which took place in Herriman, Utah. It took place as Mayar was swimming with a friend at the Blackridge reservoir.
As both of them were swimming, Deng Mayar and his friend Sa Mafutaga seemed to struggle inside the water before the former slowly started to drown inside the water. His friend made it back to the shore somehow, but Mayar got stuck in the water and could not find his way back. Despite best efforts from Sa Mafutaga to reach out to Mayar, he lost his life inside the water and his body was recovered by the emergency crew after a long and difficult search.
This accident left everyone in complete shock and disbelief. The University of Nebraska Omaha and others posted statements on the passing of Deng Mayar.
Deng was a joy to be around and made our culture better: Omaha Mavericks head coach
The statement from the Chancellor Joanne Li and Vice-Chancellor Adrian Dowell from the University of Nebraska Omaha read, "We are devastated to learn of Deng's passing. On behalf of our university community, our love and sincere condolences are with his family during this difficult time. We also wish his friends and teammates in Omaha, North Dakota, and Salt Lake City family, peace as they process this tragic loss."
Deng Mayar used to play for North Dakota before joining the Omaha Mavericks this summer. During his time with North Dakota in the previous two seasons, Mayar made 42 appearances and 15 starts. The head coach of Omaha Mavericks, Chris Clutchfield, talked about being delighted with Mayar joining them after being a tough competitor for them in the two seasons apart from stating that he made the culture of the Mavericks better.
