Sports

TRAGEDY: Vanderbilt Freshman Phenom Pitcher Dies In Drowning Accident [VIDEO]

Vanderbilt Commodores YouTube

Christian Datoc Senior White House Correspondent
Font Size:

Vanderbilt pitcher Donny Everett drowned in Tennessee lake late Thursday night.

The 19-year-old flame-throwing righty — who had just finished his freshman year — was fishing with friends on the Normandy Lake the night before the Commodores’ Friday NCAA Regional matchup against Xavier.

The group had reportedly jumped in the water to swim from the west side of the bridge to the east side when Everett went under and did not resurface.

Edward Knott, Public Information Officer for the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department released the following statement on Everett’s death:

On June 2, 2016 just before 5 p.m. Deputy Charles Taylor, received a call of a subject that had gone under water in Normandy Lake at Fire Lake Bridge on Mt. View Road. Upon Taylor’s arrival at 5:05 p.m. another deputy, Brandon Reed obtained information that Donald Edward Everett age 19 of Clarksville had gone under the water and not re-surfaced. Deputy Reed did enter the water in an attempt to locate Everett but was unable to do so. Everett, a baseball player at Vanderbilt University had come to Normandy Lake to fish with 2 teammates and 2 other people. According to all four individuals Everett was on the west side of the bridge with one of his friends when he entered the water and attempted to swim across to the east. They stated that Everett got about halfway across the waterway when he began asking for help. All four individuals stated that they thought Everett was “just joking around” because he was smiling and did not seem to be in distress. One person did enter the water and pulled Everett several feet but stated that he is not a good swimmer and was struggling to stay afloat. He stated that Everett did not seem to be struggling. The friend stated that he let go of Everett and swam back to shore still thinking Everett was “joking”. He stated that when he looked back, Everett had gone under and did not re-surface.

The Coffee County Sheriff’s Department did launch a boat to assist with the rescue with the Coffee County Rescue Squad. Divers from the Coffee County Rescue Squad entered the water at 6:38 p.m. and surfaced and dove again at 6:47 p.m. At 6:49 p.m. divers found the body of Everett in approximately 25 feet of water approximately 15 foot off the shore line. Everett was transported by Coffee County EMS to Harton Regional Medical Center and then transported to Nashville by State Medical Examiners for autopsy.

WATCH:

Coming out of high school, the 6’2″ Everett was one of the nation’s most coveted pitchers.

He was projected to be a first-round pick in the 2015 MLB Draft but instead chose to postpone going pro in order to attend Vanderbilt.

Everett missed much of the 2016 season with a shoulder injury but posted a 1.50 ERA across 12 innings after returning from the DL in mid April.

Follow Datoc on Twitter and Facebook