Emmanuel Omogbo

CSU small forward

It was 5:30 in the morning. I received a phone call, and at first, I didn’t pick up. The second time, I turned the phone around and a friend was calling, so I answered. I got the news — my parents, niece and nephew died in a house fire — and I didn’t really believe it.

More people kept calling.

To process it, I went to Moby and sat down on the court and thought about what was going on. I still went to class that day and, in the middle of a lecture, coach Ross Hodge and coach Leonard Perry came to pick me up from class to talk to coach Larry Eustachy about going back home. They asked me if I still wanted to play (against Air Force on Wednesday night) and I told them yes. I wanted to play because I felt like I had to dedicate that game to my parents and just go from there.

When I got to the gym at Air Force, I was kind of in a fog. When I started playing, I couldn’t really think about much — it was all a blur. I was playing in the game, but I wasn’t really there. It was dark to me, and I didn’t even know or remember how I got out there and how I really played.

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I can’t really remember anything from that week. I probably have gone back and watched every game from last season except for that game. I probably will never go back to watch that game except for when we play Air Force again this year. Coach probably wants to watch film for that particular game prep, and I likely won’t even be in the room for it.

I flew back to Maryland twice during the aftermath. The first time, I went to meet with my sisters and plan the burial; it was cool that coach Hodge got to fly back with me. The second time I flew back home was for the memorial service at church. It was really cool because, again, somebody else was there for me. This time it was Lana, Coach Eustachy’s wife. She flew back home with me and spoke about my mom and dad at the memorial service. I really respect her for that.

Had it not been for God’s grace, I wouldn’t have been able to get through this tragedy and return to basketball. There was just so much going on. I wanted to focus on my parents, and I wanted to focus on basketball. I just didn’t know where I was and who to talk to at that point in time. So I just kind of handled everything on my own, only talking about all of it with a small group of people.

I tend to stay positive, but in my mind, I knew I was going to have to break down at some point. It never happened. I continued to think that it was going to happen sometime, but in the meantime, I just felt like I had to be there for my brothers and sisters, and I kind of have to be the man of the family now.

We never questioned God and asked, ‘Why would you do this?’ We just felt like things happen.

After the season, I actually thought about transferring from CSU to somewhere closer to home, but I couldn’t.

My parents taught me to always be grateful, and I just couldn’t be ungrateful to Coach Eustachy and everybody in Fort Collins and the whole Rams family. Even though you could probably understand why I would have left, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t be ungrateful to coach Eustachy and his wife who have done a lot for me and all of you in Fort Collins who have chipped in to help. So I knew I was staying so I could finish my senior season here and be remembered as somebody who played through tough times and is still a strong person, strong minded and a great young man.

Coach Eustachy is like another dad to me, so why not stick with this guy?

Plus, this community raised more than $100,000 for my family, and for that, I am very grateful. That’s why I am dedicating this ‘Thank You Season’ to everybody who did that and helped me out in whatever way they could. Even if you didn’t put any money down, I still received supportive texts from you. I appreciate that.

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Kobe Bryant reaching out was big time, too. My dad really loved Kobe. We used to watch the Lakers games together all the time. So many other people reached out that weren’t even on the news, such as a couple of other NBA players. All of that has helped get me through this.

This season is my senior year. I'm playing it for you, but also to thank my family — my brothers and sisters — for remaining strong for each other when things got hard.

I just want to thank the people at Colorado State University, Wyoming, the University of Colorado and anyone that helped me out. Everything they did for me and my family has meant a lot. So much you’ve done has made an impact on me. The money was really big but so was the comfort and support you gave me, the texts I received and warm welcomes every time I went to another place or arena to play. That was priceless and something I will always remember.

I want you to know that I love everybody, and I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to stay strong-minded and keep playing basketball at CSU. You stuck by me.

And to my coaches, both the ones that are still here and the ones that are not here anymore, thank you for being there for me.

Everybody look out for the ‘Thank You Season.’ It is going to be a crazy one.

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