HS Baller Wes Leonard Dies After Hitting Game Winning Shot

Just like the microcosm of life that sports has become, sometimes it delivers poignant tragedy.

Fennville Michigan high school multi-sport star Wes Leonard was at one moment experiencing the exhuberant feeling of ultimate triumph.  His last second layup had capped off an undefeated season.  He was already immensely popular, and making game-winning shots in varsity basketball never hurts things.

Less than a minute later, he collapsed on the court, dying of cardiac arrest from an enlarged heart.

“Thirty seconds earlier, he was laying in the winning bucket,” said Ryan Klingler, basketball coach in Fennville, about 200 miles west of Detroit. “And then 10 seconds later … everything’s pulled out from under you, from out of nowhere.”

Witnessing another student’s death is shocking enough to a high school kid — let alone in the midst of a victory celebration.

According to people who knew Leonard, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer kid.

Middle-school umpire, Chad VanHuis, said “He was very courteous. He was the nicest kid. You’d think with his star potential, because he’s so gifted, he’d be cocky, but he never really was that way.”

“He had a personality that, when people were around him, they played better,” said Leonard’s football coach Tim Schipper.  ”Everybody around him played better, because he was a leader and the best athlete.”

“He was just an amazing kid,” Klingler said. “What made him special is he had a passion about everything he did. That’s what separated him — his passion. He had a passion to compete. He had a passion to be his best.”

I had a friend die of an enlarged heart, ex-NBA player Jason Collier.  He was the nicest guy while we were growing up, even though he was miles ahead of everyone athletically.  Unfortunately all too often death from an enlarged heart is instantaneous, shocking and unexpected.  Our thoughts go out Leonard’s friends and family.