UW Whitewater basketball star Derek Gray dies aged 20; the coach remembers him in a touching tribute.

“I love him. He’s a great guy,” Warhawks head coach Pat Miller said in a statement.

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater mourns the loss of basketball star Derek Gray, who died unexpectedly on Sunday. He is 20 years old.

“I love him. He’s a beautiful man,” Warhawks head coach Pat Miller told Channel 3000 News. “Boy was an amazing man. He was a player, and I had many long conversations (with him) about life, basketball, family, also community. He was a brilliant man, very intuitive, and I enjoyed his perspective.”

Miller added, “His teammates love him. He has a diffrent ability to connect with all his teammates differently.” The official cause of Gray’s death has not been released.

UW-Whitewater’s athletic department tweeted that he died during an event hosted by the team on Sunday, “playing the game he loved. We have a camp for tonight. At the end of our evening session, we get pizza for the campers, and all our camp counselors play games also music, which is fun. Unfortunately, he passed out during the game,” Miller said, adding that the coaches immediately rushed over. Help Gray.

Gray, majoring in psychology with a minor in criminology, was a member of the Warhawk men’s basketball program for two years; Last season, he was third-team D3hoops.com all-Region 9. First-team all-WIAC, and three-time WIAC Player of the Year, according to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. He is on track to graduate in 2024. “Words cannot define how we all feel about losing Derek,” said UW-Whitewater Intercollegiate Athletics director Ryan Callahan. “He is an extraordinary young man with a bright future. My heart goes to his family and everyone lucky to know Derek.”

The UW-Whitewater men’s basketball team also released a statement on Twitter acknowledging Gray for his incredible athletic abilities and his influence on everyone around him.