Abdul Rasheed Babatunde Agbaje, a 21-year-old college athlete, died suddenly on Monday of cardiac arrest during a soccer game in Macon, Georgia, reports say.
The young man was playing a pick-up game at the Mercer University intramural fields when he collapsed, Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones reported, according to WMAZ-TV.
Agbaje was taken to Atrium Health Navicent medical center, where he was pronounced dead at 7:48 p.m.
Mercer Mourns the Passing of Men’s Soccer Student-Athlete Baba Agbaje
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— Mercer Men’s Soccer (@Mercer_MSoccer) April 11, 2023
In a statement, Mercer President William D. Underwood called the incident “tragic.”
“Our hearts go out to the Agbaje family on their tragic loss and ask the Mercer family to keep them in their thoughts and prayers,” Underwood wrote. “Words cannot convey the extent of our sadness over Baba’s passing.”
“Baba has been a valued member of the Mercer student-athlete community over the last four years. His coaches and teammates are obviously hurting, and we are focused on providing support to the family and to the team. The entire Mercer family is in mourning tonight. This hurts, but we will lean on each other in the coming days,” Mercer Athletics Dept. Director Jim Cole added in a separate statement.
Mercer soccer coach Brad Ruzzo also said the team was “heartbroken” and praised Agbaje as “an incredible person who embodied what it means to be a Mercer Bear.”
Agbaje was a member of the Mercer soccer team since entering college in 2019, and before that was the 2019 Fayette County Boy’s Co-Player of the Year as he finished his high school years.
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