16-Year-Old Player Collapses, Dies At Basketball Camp

Coaches barked instructions, screens were set, and sneakers squeaked Tuesday at Aspen High School as a basketball camp tried to come to grips with the death of a player.

Quinn Issiah Evering, 16, of Toronto, died Monday at Aspen Valley Hospital after he collapsed during a routine passing drill at the Aspen Basketball Academy held in the high school gym. The annual summer camp is run by Aspen High basketball coach Steve Ketchum, who accompanied Evering to the hospital and spoke with the teen’s relatives, including his mother, a single parent.

“He was gregarious, had a big smile,” Ketchum said.

Counselors from the Aspen School District and Pitkin County Health & Human Services were available Monday and Tuesday for players and coaches, and will remain available for the camp’s duration.

Evering, who was going into 11th grade at Northern Secondary School, had just arrived for the first day of the camp, which he was attending with a friend from Vail Christian Academy.

An autopsy was performed Tuesday in Grand Junction. But Dr. Steve Ayers, Pitkin County coroner, said more information was needed before a preliminary cause of death is released, which could occur today or Thursday. Toxicology results will not be ready for at least two weeks, though Evering’s death is not considered suspicious.

“We’re looking strongly at a pre-existing condition,” Ayers said.

Efforts to reach Evering’s family were not successful. His aunt, Lorraine Evering, told the Globe and Mail in Toronto that he was close with his mother and shared her love of the saxophone.

“He could do almost anything, he was a talented kid. It wasn’t just about sports,” Evering told the paper. “He was good at saxophone, he was good with his hands, he built all sorts of model cars and bikes and things like that.”

Evering already was 6-foot-5 at just 16 years old but had a gentle manner, she said.

Ketchum said he was unsure how Evering heard about the Aspen camp, which draws players going into grades 6 through 12 from across the country. With 130 or so players, this year’s session is the largest ever.

“There is a gray cloud over the camp,” said John Maloy, Aspen schools superintendent, who, like Ketchum, praised the response of coaches, law enforcement and ambulance workers. “It’s just a sad day.”

Evering collapsed just before 3 p.m., and the other players were escorted out of the gym as coaches started CPR.

“Quinn stood out among his peers because of his cheerful personality and his great smile,” Ketchum said in a prepared statement. “Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with Quinn’s family during their time of loss.”