The coroner’s report confirms Ethan Dietz died of a head injury. Connors State College in Oklahoma is directly responsible for the untimely death of its star college basketball player.
It must now hold head coach Bill Muse and his staff responsible for their concerning history of neglect.
The official cause of death reveals what we already knew. Dietz was failed.
Ethan Dietz took a blow to the head.
This tragic story dates back to Nov. 22. Connors State, a public community college in Oklahoma, traveled three hours south to play Grayson College in Denison, Texas.
Ethan Dietz took a heavy blow to the head during the game.
The sophomore forward showed immediate signs of discomfort. He had to be helped off of the court by one of his teammates because he was so disoriented.
Although it was abundantly clear that Dietz was not well, the coaching staff allowed him to check back into the game just two minutes later. Head coach Bill Muse kept him on the court despite the visible indicators of a head injury. The 20-year-old repeatedly grabbed at his head and at one point tried to shake off the cobwebs to no avail. He ultimately took himself out of the game with approximately 12 minutes left in the second half.
At that point, Dietz went and sat by himself at the end of the bench and covered his head with a towel. He did not get up to join his teammates during timeouts. Nobody went to check on him.
Not one person!
Dietz was still on the bench with a towel over his head as coaches and players from both teams left the court after the game had ended. One of his teammates eventually helped him back to the locker room.
Connors State eventually made the drive home from Texas to Oklahoma and Dietz was rushed to the hospital upon the team’s return to campus. He passed away three days later.
Connors State allowed its college basketball player to die.
Bill Muse also served as the athletic director at Connors State in addition to his role as head basketball coach. He has a concerning history of neglect when it comes to head injuries, even beyond the fatal incident with Dietz.
Muse and three other assistant coaches were placed on administrative leave at the beginning of the spring semester amid an investigation. Women’s basketball coach Jaylen Thompson took over the men’s basketball program in his place.
The coaches were not immediately fired because the ongoing investigation was not complete. Connors State needed to wait on the official cause of death, which was released earlier this week.
According to a coroner’s report, Ethan Dietz died from complications of right-sided epidural hematoma. An epidural hematoma is defined by UCLA Health as “a life-threatening, urgent condition where blood collects between the skull and the outer membrane of the brain (dura mater), typically caused by head trauma and skull fractures that rupture arteries.” More simply put, it is the collection of blood between the skull and the outer brain lining.
The coroner ruled that Dietz’s epidural hematoma was caused by blunt force to the side of the head.
Muse allowed his athlete to stay in the game with an obvious head injury. The medical staff did not check on him. There was a hospital less than five miles from Grayson College. Nobody thought to take him.