Medical Examiner: Tyrek Coger died from Enlarged Heart

Friday afternoon, the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Tyrek Coger, who passed away just yesterday, suffered from a heart condition known as Cardiomegaly with left ventricular hypertrophy. Essentially, Tyrek Coger had an enlarged heart in response to a heart condition that caused the left ventricle to work harder than it should. Per mayoclinic.org, as the workload increases, the muscle tissue in the chamber wall thickens, and the size of the chamber can also increase to an unsafe size.

In a press conference Friday morning, Brad Underwood said that this was “the hardest couple of days I’ve ever experienced in my coaching life.” Athletic director Mike Holder, addressing the tragedy at the conference added that,” I can’t get my mind around [the tragedies that have happened to OSU]. Especially our basketball programs. Two plane crashes. Now we have this.”

According to authorities, Tyrek Coger did not appear to struggle during the conditioning drill, which included running stairs. Coger reportedly sat down at the top of the stairs upon completion of the workout, when players and coaches noticed something was wrong. Trainers called 911 and firefighters arrived at the stadium in less than 5 minutes to rush Coger to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:23 PM.

The medical examiner deemed that the manner of death was natural, according to the Oklahoman.

University officials said they went through an extensive series of health tests, which did not give any indication that Tyrek Coger suffered from any health ailments.

As far as the heat aspect of it, this is what we know.

The Oklahoma Medical Examiner's Office just sent me a correction on if heat played a part in Tyrek Coger's death. #okstate (1/2)

— Nathan Thompson (@NathanDThompson) July 22, 2016

They now say they'll have to wait for the physician to complete his report before saying if heat played a part. #okstate

— Nathan Thompson (@NathanDThompson) July 22, 2016