FORT VALLEY, Ga. — The Fort Valley State University community is mourning after a member of their men's basketball team died last week.
The university website says D'Angelo Strickland died in a car accident Wednesday.
The Lithonia, Georgia native served as a forward on Fort Valley State's basketball team while he was an undergraduate student.
He was 22-years-old.
"We are deeply saddened by the passing of Mr. D'Angelo Strickland," Fort Valley State President Paul Jones said in a release. "Mr. Strickland was a cherished part of our Wildcat campus community and a passionate former student-athlete. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this time."
Strickland was recently accepted into the university's clinical mental health counseling graduate program, according to the release.
Last month, he completed his Bachelor of Business Administration and Marketing degree at FVSU.
The university called Strickland a "voting advocate" and says he supported on campus programs aimed to encourage college students to vote in the upcoming election.
In the release, FVSU head men's basketball Coach Mark Sherrill said he got to tell Strickland how proud he was of his former player's accomplishments shortly before his death.
"He was a well-rounded young man," Sherrill said. "He had character and was very focused. She (his mother) reminded me that D'Angelo beat all odds. He didn't even play basketball in high school, but he ended up becoming a starter for FVSU and graduating. He made all of us so proud."
According to an accident report from Georgia State Patrol, Strickland was going east on I-16 when he drove off the road, overcorrected and his car overturned.
