Teen dies suddenly while playing basketball on campus

A 17-year-old Farmingdale State College freshman suddenly collapsed and died during an informal basketball game on campus Monday night, and authorities are investigating what could have felled the teen.

Dominic Murray, who lived in East Elmhurst in Queens before moving into campus housing, was playing during Open Basketball Night in Nold Hall at about 8:30 p.m. when he fell to the court, said school spokeswoman Kathy Coley.

College police and East Farmingdale Fire Department rescuers tried to resuscitate Murray, who was in cardiac arrest, said Dennis Scherback, second assistant chief of the fire department, but the teen could not be revived.

Murray was taken to New Island Hospital in Bethpage, where he was pronounced dead. The Nassau County Medical Examiner's office said it is investigating the teen's death, but results of the testing will take several weeks.

Friends and former coaches of Murray said the 6-foot-2 basketball player had always been healthy and athletic, making his sudden death even more of a shock.

"He always passed his physicals, and he got clearance," said Don Kent, longtime varsity basketball coach at Msgr. McClancy Memorial High School in East Elmhurst, where Murray attended. "He was strong, and he was a healthy young man."

Murray's mother, Melinda Murray of East Elmhurst, was too distraught to speak Tuesday. But in a statement she gave through Farmingdale State College, Melinda Murray said her son "loved basketball, loved to compete, and she was very proud of him."

Murray was an only child, and his father died while Murray was a high school freshman, Kent said.

"He was probably the most likable kid I ever coached," said Kent. "He had a beautiful smile. He was always smiling."

Kent said Murray was a talented player who received a full basketball scholarship to Mercy College. But Murray wanted to work on his academics first, and chose to go to Farmingdale before transferring to Mercy, Kent said.

Andre Armstrong, 18, of Flushing, said he has been a friend of Murray's since the eighth grade. The two spent this summer playing basketball together, Armstrong said.

"It's just crazy," he said. "He was strong, he could shoot, he could dunk. . . . I don't even know why God would take somebody like him."

Farmingdale State is providing grief counselors for students, Coley said, and the school is planning to memorialize Murray. Kent said funeral services have not yet been arranged.

>>PHOTOS: Dominic Murray's death