The University of Nebraska at Omaha community is mourning the loss of a member of the school's basketball team after a tragic drowning incident.
According to Fox 13 in Salt Lake City, 22-year-old Omaha forward Deng Mayar was swimming over the weekend at Blackridge Reservoir with his friend, 21-year-old Sa Mafutaga.
Shortly before 6 p.m. the report states both men began to struggle in the water and attempted to make it to more shallow ground. Mafutaga was able to successfully get to shallow water, but Mayar was not. Mafutaga allegedly attempted to go back to save his friend, but was unable to help.
Fox 13 reports rescue crews from Unified Fire, South Jordan Fire, and the Utah Highway Patrol dive team all responded to the emergency, working for hours in an attempt to locate Mayar, who went underwater about 35 yards from shore.
A submersible robot was finally able to locate Mayar almost five hours after the initial drowning, and divers then recovered his body and brought it to shore. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mayar recently joined Omaha after transferring from North Dakota.
Omaha Coach Chris Crutchfield released a statement following the young athlete's death, saying, "After competing against him for two years, we were elated to add him to our team and he made tremendous progress this summer. Deng was a joy to be around and made our culture better. We will miss him greatly. Jodi and I, along with our entire program, send our hearts and prayers to Deng's family, friends and teammates."
North Dakota Coach Paul Sather added, "He was a wonderful person with a heart the size of a gym. Our thoughts are with his parents and family, along with all his teammates from UND and UNO. As competitive as he was on the court, he had a gentle nature and kind soul off the court. Deng will be greatly missed by all of those that knew and loved him."
