Wichita soccer community mourns the ‘puzzling’ death of 21-year-old Newman men’s player
The last time Austin Madubuike wore his uniform, he scored his first goal of the season for the Newman men’s soccer team.
Hours later, on the ride home to Wichita last weekend, the 21-year-old from Toronto, Canada suffered what his coach termed a “medical emergency” that sent him to an Intensive Care Unit in a Fort Smith, Ark. hospital.
Eight days later, Madubuike died from a medical episode that doctors could not explain. The tragic news was confirmed by Newman University on Monday, sending an entire campus and Wichita soccer community into mourning for a person who was well-liked by teammates and students alike.
“He had a real gift for making everyone comfortable around him and making people laugh,” Newman coach Cliff Brown said. “He was very popular on our team and he was friends with players on the tennis team and the basketball team. He’s very humble, very funny. He just had a fabulous personality.
“(Monday) was obviously a very difficult day. A lot of tears. I know Austin and the way he was, he wouldn’t want everyone to quit because of him. The guys know we have to go on and young people are resilient, but there’s a time for grief and right now is that time.”
Soccer player’s medical emergency puzzles doctors
Madubuike suffered the medical emergency on the team bus ride home on Oct. 15, just hours after scoring his first goal of the season in Newman’s 3-3 draw with Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia, Ark.
Brown said the incident, which he said he was not allowed to talk specifics about, occurred about three hours into the drive in Panama, Okla., a small town located on the Oklahoma-Arkansas border. An ambulance was called and transported Madubuike to an ICU in a Fort Smith, Ark. hospital.
Newman had just completed a road trip where the team played two games in three days, but Madubuike played just 19 minutes in the Oct. 13 match at Harding and was on the field for 43 minutes as a substitute in the Oct. 15 match at Ouachita.
Graduate assistant Cole Housh stayed with Madubuike in the hospital, while Brown drove the rest of his team back to Wichita. The head coach then rented a car and drove back to Fort Smith the following day and stayed with his player until Madubuike’s family arrived later that night.
“We don’t think it’s related to playing (time) and we don’t know if there were any underlying issues he may have had, so we really don’t have any idea,” Brown said. “It was very puzzling for the doctors. We kept praying he would get better and things would improve. In our minds, we could see him coming back and saying, ‘Did you miss me?’”
Newman soccer plays in honor of teammate
Because doctors couldn’t pinpoint what exactly triggered the medical emergency, Brown didn’t have many details to share with his team when he returned to Wichita. The last week was spent praying and hoping for any sliver of good news.
Brown designed blue shirts with “Austin” and Madubuike’s No. 4 on the back for everyone in the program to wear. With heavy hearts, the team decided to play their next game last weekend against No. 19 Southern Nazarene. When the Jets scored their first goal, one of Madubuike’s teammates, Wichita native Sam Mueller, grabbed the shirt and displayed it in front of the camera in what was an emotional celebration.
Two days later, they would learn their teammate died.
“We wanted to go out there and play for him and give everything we got,” Mueller said. “When we scored that goal, I just wanted to give him a tribute and let him know that we’re there for him. Hopefully his family got to see that because that goal was definitely for him.”
The legacy of Austin Madubuike lives on at Newman
Brown still laughed when recalling his favorite quirk of Madubuike, who preferred to come to every training session with a hoodie pulled up over his head and a full track suit on even when the summer heat in Kansas topped 100 degrees. He would always brush off any questions about his attire with his quick wit, which was unmatched on the team.
Even though he was a first-year player for Newman, after transferring this offseason from a NAIA program in LSU Alexandria, Madubuike quickly became one of the most well-liked players on the team because of his personality. He was excited to play at a higher level in NCAA Div. II at Newman.
That’s why everyone on the team was ecstatic when Madubuike found the back of the net for the first time in what became his last game in a tragic twist.
But his legacy will live on — Brown told The Eagle that the program will retire Madubuike’s number after this season. That’s a fitting tribute, his teammates say.
“Austin was a great soccer player, a great kid, a great student and a great friend,” Mueller said. “He was always bringing the best out of everybody. I couldn’t tell you a day where we weren’t all laughing when we were around him. He was super witty and always had a good spirit. He was never negative. We all love him and he’s definitely going to be missed.”
This story was originally published October 25, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
.jpg)