The University of Nebraska at Omaha confirmed Sunday the death of men’s basketball player Deng Mayar, who drowned at Blackridge Reservoir in Herriman, Utah, on Saturday. He was 22.
Mayar joined the Omaha program this offseason through the transfer portal. The Salt Lake City native spent the last two years of his career at North Dakota and made 15 starts for the Fighting Hawks across 42 total appearances.
Police responded around 5:40 p.m. on Saturday to a 911 call reporting two people in distress at the reservoir. Two individuals were struggling in the water. One made it to the shore, but Mayar remained struggling. The other individual, along with multiple bystanders, reentered the water in an attempt to assist Mayar but could not save him.
Mayar reportedly went underwater about 35 yards off the shore, and authorities conducted search efforts to locate his body, per ABC4. A submersible robot found him at 10:40 p.m., divers recovered him 20 minutes later and pronounced him deceased. His family was on hand during the search.
“We are devastated to learn of Deng’s passing,” Omaha chancellor Joanne Li and athletic director Adrian Dowell said in a joint statement. “On behalf of our university community, our love and sincere condolences are with his family during this difficult time. We also wish his friends and teammates in Omaha, North Dakota, and Salt Lake City family, peace as they process this tragic loss.”
Mayar averaged 5.7 points per game for his North Dakota career and helped guide the Fighting Hawks to a Summit League Tournament semifinals appearance last season. He made an intraconference move to UNO at the end of the campaign.
“Our entire program is devastated to learn of Deng’s passing,” Omaha coach Chris Crutchfield said. “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.”
The North Dakota program also offered its condolences.
“Our hearts are broken to hear the tragic news of Deng’s passing,” said Paul Sather, Mayar’s coach at North Dakota. “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.”
