The Vandy baseball team left a space open for teammate Donny Everett during the National Anthem on Saturday… Photo provided through Facebook
Witnesses told authorities Everett was swimming when he started asking for help. They said they thought Everett was “just joking around” because he was smiling and did not seem to be struggling.
A friend went in and pulled Everett several feet along. The friend said he is not a good swimmer and was struggling to stay afloat when he let Everett go and swam back to shore.
When the friend looked back, he saw that Everett went under the water and did not come back up.
Divers with the Coffee County Rescue Squad recovered Everett’s body just before 7 p.m. about 15 feet from the water bank near the Cat Walk along Mt. View Road.
Everett was taken to a hospital in Tullahoma before being transported to Nashville for an autopsy.
The Commodores tried to pull themselves together as they hosted the Regional NCAA baseball tournament. It turned out to be a difficult task, as Vandy lost both games they played on Saturday to end their bid to return to College World Series where they won the National Championship in 2014 and finished 2nd last season.
