Bellaire basketball star dies in crash
By MOISES MENDOZA and SAM KHAN JR.
Houston Chronicle
May 16, 2010, 8:49PM
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Bob Levey For The Chronicle


Bellaire center Tobi Oyedeji had signed to play at Texas A&M.



Images of basketball standout Tobi Oyedeji


Tobi Oyedeji, a star basketball player at Bellaire High School who had signed with Texas A&M, died in an early-morning car accident in Houston on Sunday.
Oyedeji was driving a silver Toyota Avalon around 6:15 a.m. when he veered out of his lane and hit a Jeep head-on in the 14100 block of South Main in southwest Houston. The driver of the Jeep died at the scene. Oyedeji died later at Ben Taub General Hospital.
The 17-year-old had attended prom and a school-sponsored after-party at Dave & Busters. He sent his father a text message at 5:53 a.m. reading: "Dad, I'm on my way home."


A panicked Michael Oyedeji texted his only child back about an hour later, inquiring about his whereabouts. Soon after, the hospital called to say his injured son had been brought in.
"I don't know why this happened," the father said.
Oyedeji was a good kid who didn't drink or use drugs. He tried hard at sports and school and was looking forward to starting summer classes at A&M in about two weeks, Michael Oyedeji said.
Bellaire basketball coach Bruce Glover said he last spoke with Tobi Oyedeji at the school's prom, which was held at the Westin Galleria on Saturday night. He took a group photo with Oyedeji and the rest of the team before telling everyone to "be careful."
'Such a bright future'

Glover also said he hopes to make arrangements for the school to retire Oyedeji's jersey next season, possibly before their season-opening home game against Washington. He said Oyedeji meant a lot to the Cardinals' program on and off the court and had great days ahead of him.
"The mourning is natural," Glover said. "The question we ask ourselves is, what do we mourn the most — his past or his future? Because he had such a bright future and he had such a great past."
Glover said that despite his relaxed, easy-going off-court demeanor, Oyedeji was an intense on-court competitor.
"He was a lion once he crossed those lines," Glover said. "He reminded me of Kevin Garnett, (yelling) 'Let's go!'"
Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon praised Oyedeji in a statement released Sunday night.
"The world has lost a great kid," Turgeon said. "Tobi epitomized the term student-athlete. He was a very good student. He worked hard in the classrooms and on the basketball court and he was a terrific basketball player. This is difficult to understand and today is a very sad day. My heart aches for his mom and dad. Tobi was an only child and I would like everyone to pray for Tobi's parents."
Grief counselors will be available at Bellaire High School on Monday.
As of late Sunday afternoon, hundreds of posts had been left on Oyedeji's Facebook page.
"R.I.P. Tobi you were bound 2 be successful. I remember my 1st day at bellaire and i dropped all my books on the floor and u laughed at me and then helped me , you in a better place now," wrote Maya E. Perrin.
Oyedeji was selected first-team All-Greater Houston this past season. He was also the District 20-5A's Most Valuable Player. He led the Cardinals to a 35-2 record, a district championship and an appearance in the Class 5A Region III championship game, where Bellaire lost to eventual 5A state champion Bush.
Oyedeji was the Cardinals' second-leading scorer, averaging 16 points per game. He was also one of the area's top rebounders and shot-blockers. He was considered to be a top 100 recruit nationally by several recruiting services and Rivals.com ranked him as the 18th-best power forward in the Class of 2010.
sam.khan@chron.com

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/7007956.html

May his soul rest in peace.