A former UCF Men’s Basketball player passed away Monday.
UCF Athletics confirmed that Jean Michel Yotio passed away in the Ivory Coast but was not certain of the details surrounding his death.
Yotio played for the Knights in the 2007-08 season, playing in 29 games, and in the 2008-09 season.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Yotio’s basketball career at UCF ended prematurely due to medical issues but he continued to play, returning to his native Ivory Coast this summer to take part in the African Cup.
On Thursday, he began to experience pain in his calves, Beth Sutton told the Orlando Sentinel. That pain moved up to his chest on Friday, and Yotio went to the hospital on Saturday. He was told it was an infection in his chest, Sutton told the Sentinel.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Yotio was scheduled to get a second opinion on Monday, though the medical process in the Ivory Coast had caused some delays.
“In a very short time, 25 . . . years, he gave an awful lot,” Kevin Sutton told the Orlando Sentinel. “He was a great teammate, a great friend, he had a great spirit about him. He impacted a lot of lives. . . . He accomplished so much in a very short time. That’s what we’re going to remember him as: A great son, a great teammate and more important than anything else as a great person.”
One incorrect photo was placed into the original story due to a file upload error. The story has since been revised.
