High School Player Dies After Season-Winning Shot

Wes Leonard, 16, collapsed in the midst of celebrations
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 4, 2011 6:22 AM CST
High School Player Dies After Season-Winning Shot
A high school basketball player collapsed and died after making the game-winning shot.   (Shutter Stock)

A Michigan high school basketball player's moment of glory turned to tragedy last night. Wes Leonard, 16, made the game-winning shot in overtime—clinching his team's perfect, 20-0 season—and then collapsed as fans ran onto the court. Just moments before, his teammates had hoisted him into the air in celebration of the 57-55 win, the Holland Sentinel reports. Paramedics performed CPR, but Leonard was pronounced dead at the hospital. No cause of death has yet been determined.

“Obviously, in the midst of celebration, I think shocking is exactly the word,” the superintendent said. Just days before his death, Leonard's coach told the Sentinel the teen was "a special kid" who "takes care of his body better than probably anybody I've ever coached." Click for more on Wes Leonard. (More high school basketball stories.)

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