Former Lobo Gethro Muscadin dies at age 22
Nov. 2—Gethro Muscadin, the former University of New Mexico Lobo basketball player who had been hospitalized since being in a single-vehicle crash 10 months ago in Kansas, died Monday night.
The 22-year-old from Haiti who played at Kansas before transferring to UNM last season. After playing 12 games with the Lobos, he and the team announced he was leaving the program on Dec. 20 after playing just 12 games.
In the early morning hours of Dec. 30, 2021, after attending a Kansas-Nevada basketball game as a fan, he was the passenger in a car driven by a 21-year-old female friend when the car left the roadway and rolled several times.
Muscadin was hospitalized since and after news of his passing broke on social media Tuesday morning, his former coach at Kansas, Bill Self, posted in part that Muscadin "had been unresponsive since the car accident last December."
Lobo coaches and players, including some who shared an apartment with Muscadin at Lobo Village until he left the team in December, shared their thoughts on the passing if their friend n social media accounts, posting photos and videos of him.
"We are saddened by the news of Gethro's passing," UNM head coach Richard Pitino said in a statement sent to the Journal. "Since his tragic accident last December, we have all been praying for a miracle. Our program is hurting today as we remember him and send our thoughts and prayers to his family and friends during this difficult time."
That statement came not long after the Lobo basketball team's official social media accounts posted about his passing: "The Lobo community is saddened today by the passing of former New Mexico basketball player Gethro Muscadin. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this time." Those posts that were posted on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, included an image that showed two pictures of Muscadin in a UNM uniform — one of him shooting and one of him smiling, which seems to be a lasting memory for many who knew the lighthearted player.
"Rest in peace Gethro ! Thank you for the laughs ! The smiles ! The trust you gave to me and my family !! Love you G ! #heartbroken #unbreakablefamily," was the Twitter post from his AAU coach Vonzell Thomas in Texas, who Muscadin lived with before going to college.
Jeremy Kipness, Muscadin's former coach at Aspire Academy in Louisville, where Muscadin played his senior season of high school, posted on his Twitter account, in part: "Your infectious personality, the way you made people feel and that smile of yours will always stay with me."
Added Self on Twitter, "Our thoughts and prayers go out to Gethro's loved ones. So young. So sad. He will always be a teammate of ours. RIP."
Though a newcomer on the team a year ago, Muscadin quickly made his presence felt with teammates, those around the program and often cracked jokes with local media at practices and in interviews. His roommates raved about his cooking and Muscadin told the Journal he used to try and sneak protein powder into the oatmeal he would cook for his roommate Birima Seck so the 6-11, 190-pound center could put on some much needed weight.
As for how he ended up at New Mexico — the 2020-21 freshman season of the highly recruited prep star didn't turn out as he had hoped after playing just 11 games at Kansas —that came down to a prior relationship with Pitino.
Muscadin was recruited by Pitino to Minnesota and Thomas also had plenty of recruiting connections himself, both with current and past coaches at UNM.
According to a Kansas Highway Patrol crash log from December 20, 2021, Muscadin was the passenger in a car driven by a 21-year-old female friend when the car "went off the road, rolled multiple times and came to a rest in the fence line." The crash was reported at 3:10 a.m. on Interstate 335 about 14 miles south of Topeka.
As of Tuesday evening, there was no word on potential memorial services.
