{"id":2475937,"date":"2025-08-18T14:58:01","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T18:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/22-year-old-ncaa-basketball-player-dies-in-swimming-accident\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T14:59:05","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T18:59:05","slug":"22-year-old-ncaa-basketball-player-dies-in-swimming-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/22-year-old-ncaa-basketball-player-dies-in-swimming-accident\/","title":{"rendered":"22-Year-Old NCAA Basketball Player Dies in Swimming Accident"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2F22-year-old-ncaa-basketball-player-dies-in-swimming-accident%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2475937&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Deng Mayar, a 22-year-old <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/univ-of-alabama-basketball-player-charged-with-capital-murder-in-the-deadly-shooting-of-23-year-old-woman\/\" title=\"Univ. of Alabama Basketball Player Charged With Capital Murder In The Deadly Shooting Of 23-Year-Old Woman\">basketball forward<\/a> for the University of Nebraska at Omaha who had recently transferred from North Dakota, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >tragically died<\/a> after drowning at Blackridge Reservoir in Herriman, Utah. The incident occurred while Mayar was swimming with a friend; both struggled in the water, and even though the friend reached shore and attempted to rescue him, Mayar went underwater and did not resurface. Rescue crews recovered his body late Saturday night, while the friend was hospitalized and is expected to recover. The reservoir had just reopened after being closed due to algae. The University of Nebraska at Omaha officials and Omaha&#8217;s basketball coach expressed devastation over the loss, offering condolences to Mayar&#8217;s family, friends, and teammates. Mayar, who was raised in Salt Lake City, had averaged 6.3 points and 4.0 rebounds last season with North Dakota and was noted for his positive influence on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-and-oklahoma-move-to-sec-reportedly-almost-done\/\" title=\"Texas And Oklahoma Move To SEC Reportedly \u2018Almost Done\u2019\">basketball program<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<div id=\"ld-4686-3758\"><\/div>\n<p><script>(function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:14832835450050406,size:[0, 0],id:\"ld-4686-3758\"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src=\"https:\/\/cdn2.decide.dev\/_js\/ajs.js\";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,\"script\",\"ld-ajs\");<\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>University of Nebraska at Omaha basketball forward Deng Mayar died Saturday at the age of 22 after drowning at a Utah reservoir, the school announced Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Mayar, who transferred from North Dakota this past offseason, was swimming with a friend at Blackridge Reservoir in Herriman, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/utah-hunter-crawls-miles-help-crashing-off-mountain-breaking-multiple-bones\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Utah<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Both began struggling in the water, ESPN <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/mens-college-basketball\/story\/_\/id\/46004695\/omaha-forward-deng-mayar-dies-drowning-incident\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13now.com\/news\/local-news\/northern-utah\/herriman-reservoir-closed-to-public-due-to-search-for-possible-drowning-victim\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">According to<\/a> KSTU-TV in Salt Lake City, Mayar&rsquo;s friend reached the shore but returned to help him. Mayar continued to struggle and went underwater.<\/p>\n<p>Rescue crews recovered his body late Saturday night. His friend was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/25-people-aboard-delta-flight-hospitalized-severe-turbulence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hospitalized<\/a> and is expected to recover.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Search underway for missing man at Blackridge Reservoir in Herriman; would-be rescuer hospitalized <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/59T23d8Whd\">https:\/\/t.co\/59T23d8Whd<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BYO4eFxTbO\">pic.twitter.com\/BYO4eFxTbO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; SLCScanner (@SLCScanner) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SLCScanner\/status\/1956923904792162764?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Herriman Police Department confirmed they received reports of a drowning at the reservoir around 5:45 p.m. local Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Officials said a man went under the water and did not resurface. A bystander attempted to help but was also taken to the hospital.<\/p>\n<p>That person is expected to survive.<\/p>\n<p>A search and rescue team, including divers, responded to the scene.<\/p>\n<p>Around 11 p.m., crews recovered the body of the 22-year-old.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/texas-police-search-career-criminal-say-bit-off-mans-ear-home-invasion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Police<\/a> closed the reservoir to the public during the search and urged people to avoid the area.<\/p>\n<p>The drowning occurred just one day after the reservoir had been reopened. It had previously been closed due to algae.<\/p>\n<p>University of Nebraska at Omaha Chancellor Joanne Li and Athletic Director Adrian Dowell issued a joint statement Sunday about the death of the young player.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha Athletics and our program mourn the tragic passing of Deng Mayar. He was 22 years old.<\/p>\n<p>Full statement at <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/CRqTmeiadl\">https:\/\/t.co\/CRqTmeiadl<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2le0ackqCM\">pic.twitter.com\/2le0ackqCM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Omaha Men&rsquo;s Basketball (@OmahaMBB) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OmahaMBB\/status\/1957208315823378687?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We are devastated to learn of Deng&rsquo;s passing,&rdquo; the pair said. &ldquo;On behalf of our university community, our love and sincere condolences are with his family during this difficult time.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/omavs.com\/news\/2025\/8\/17\/mens-basketball-uno-mourns-the-passing-of-mens-basketball-student-athlete-deng-mayar.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The statement<\/a> added, &ldquo;We also wish his friends and teammates in Omaha, North Dakota, and Salt Lake City family, peace as they process this tragic loss.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Omaha men&rsquo;s basketball coach Chris Crutchfield also released a statement.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Our entire program is devastated to learn of Deng&rsquo;s passing,&rdquo; Crutchfield said. &ldquo;After competing against him for two years, we were elated to add him to our team and he made tremendous progress this summer.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Deng was a joy to be around and made our culture better,&rdquo; Crutchfield added. &ldquo;We will miss him greatly. Jodi and I, along with our entire program, send our hearts and prayers to Deng&rsquo;s family, friends and teammates.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The 6-foot-8 Mayar, raised in Salt Lake City, averaged 6.3 points and 4.0 rebounds last season for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ap-north-dakota-republican-killed-plane-crash-along-wife-2-kids\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">North Dakota<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He finished with 12 points and seven rebounds in his final game there, a 92-79 win over South Dakota.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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Mayar, who had transferred from North Dakota during the recent offseason, was swimming with a friend at Blackridge Reservoir in Herriman, Utah. According to ESPN, both started having trouble in the water<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2475938,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Michael-Featured-Image-52.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[7142,9333,61475],"class_list":["post-2475937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-basketball","tag-ncaa","tag-swimming-accident"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Michael-Featured-Image-52.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2475937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2475937"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2475937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2475941,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2475937\/revisions\/2475941"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2475938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2475937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2475937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2475937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}