Former Florida State basketball center Michael Ojo died on Friday from a heart attack he suffered during practice overseas, the university’s athletic department confirmed. Ojo was 27.
“In all of my years of coaching, I’ve never been around a person who captivated the emotions of everybody he came into contact with like Michael,” a mourning coach Leonard Hamilton said. “He had to be the most popular person in Tallahassee, and, certainly at Florida State University.
“Michael Ojo was a wonderful, wonderful human being. He was a great teammate and really represented what the Seminole spirit is all about. He was one of the purest Seminoles that I have ever been around; he will be missed tremendously by the whole Seminole nation.”
Ojo played for Partizan, a Serbian professional basketball team. According to eurohoops.net, the 7-footer collapsed while running at practice, and doctors were unable to resuscitate him.
Sam Lunt, former FSU associate director of sports medicine for men’s basketball, said his family is “crushed” by the news.
“I am devastated,” said Lunt, who retired from FSU in 2017 after 33 years at the school. “I used to bring him to the house for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. Loved that guy.”
Ojo played all four seasons in Tallahassee and was a frontcourt presence for coach Leonard Hamilton’s Seminoles, averaging 2.7 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in 9.8 minutes a game through 78 career games. He averaged 4.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game as a senior in 2016-17 when he was a team captain.
