The former Florida State basketball big man Nigerian-American Michael Ojo died Friday after suffering a heart attack at practice while training with his European team Red Star Belgrade in Serbia. Doctors at a hospital in Belgrade were unable to resuscitate him. He was not believed to have had any health issues or heart conditions, according to the report. He was reported to have tested positive for coronavirus, but had recovered later. Ojo played four seasons with the Seminoles, from 2012 to 2017. After going undrafted in 2017, Ojo moved to Europe . He already started his professional career in Serbia after college. He signed with FMP before playing with Crvena Zvezda. He appeared in EuroCup and EuroLeague games during the 2019-20 season. Ojo was a real giant. He was towering 7-feet-1-inch (2.16 m). It was reported Nike dropped $15,000 to build a machine to make Ojo’s size 22 shoes. Florida State has released a statement on Ojo’s passing saying “We would like to express our deepest sympathy to the family, friends and former teammates of Michael.” Former FSU player Trent Forrest tweeted about his teammate’s passing, saying, “This definitely a tough one man. One of the best dudes I done came across.” In 131 career games for the Seminoles, Ojo averaged 2.7 points and 2.5 rebounds.
