An autopsy determined Agu died of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the same condition that killed basketball stars
Hank Gathers and Reggie Lewis.
An abnormal thickening of the heart muscle, known as idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis, was one of the underlying causes of the 1990 death of 23-year-old Loyola Marymount basketball star
Hank Gathers, Dr.
Heart of a Lion: The Life, Death and Legacy of
Hank Gathers is the biography of a passionate and dedicated African-American athlete who loved his chosen sport of basketball.
Although the issue was spotlighted in high-profile deaths, such as that of Reggie Lewis, the 27-year-old captain of the Boston Celtics who collapsed in 1993 during practice, and Loyola Marymount University basketball player
Hank Gathers, 23, who dropped on the court during a tournament game against the University of Portland, the U.S.
* By the way, the on-the-court deaths of two famous basketball stars,
Hank Gathers and Reggie Lewis, were caused by relatively rare heart defects, not exercise per se.
The doctor told me about the basketball star
Hank Gathers. He died of the same thing."
A similar reaction occurred in March when
Hank Gathers, the Loyola Marymount basketball star, collapsed and died during a championship game.