Michael Sweetney, an All-American big man for the Georgetown men’s basketball team who went on to be a top-10 NBA draft pick, has died, his wife, India, announced on social media on Thursday, Sept. 17.
He was 43 years old. No cause of death was specified.
“No one loved him more and he loved no one more than his family,” India Murray Sweetney wrote in a message on Facebook. “His children were the light of his life, and he lived every day to give them the best life possible. He’s been my best friend for 30 years and my husband for almost 20. I’m not sure what we or I will do without him.”
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Sweetney made his greatest on-court mark in the college game, where the 6-foot-8, 275-pound forward averaged 18.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game over three seasons at Georgetown. As a junior during the 2002-03 season, he averaged 22.8 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game for the Hoyas. His production that season earned him All-American distinction from the Associated Press, the National Association of Basketball Coaches and The Sporting News.
Despite playing only three seasons at Georgetown, he remains ninth on the program’s all-time scoring list and fifth on its all-time rebounding list.
His size and college accolades made him a prized NBA prospect, with the New York Knicks selecting him with the No. 9 overall pick in the famed 2003 NBA Draft that also included LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh. In four NBA seasons — two with the Knicks and two with the Chicago Bulls — he averaged 6.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
He played professionally, primarily in South America and the Caribbean, until 2017.
Heading into his first season with the Knicks, Sweetney struggled with depression, maintaining his playing weight and suicidal thoughts after his father suffered a fatal heart attack in 2003, about a month after Sweetney was drafted.
“I was going through depression,” he said to the New York Post in 2019. “I honestly thought I would never get out of it,” Sweetney said. “When I share the story, as I’m talking, it’s still amazing to me this was going on. As an athlete, pride got in the way. I was fighting myself. I didn’t speak up. I kept it hidden and it became a snowball effect.
“Before my father(‘s death), life was great. He came to every game. He was always there. I buried my father like two days before training camp. There was no time to digest it at all. Losing him, then coming to a basketball situation that wasn’t going the way I wanted, I’d never dealt with adversity.”
He remained in basketball after his playing days, serving as an assistant coach at Yeshiva University, a Division III school in Manhattan. With Sweetney on staff, the Maccabees won two conference championships and racked up a 50-game win streak from 2019-21.
“It’s not just about X’s and O’s,” Sweetney said to the Post in 2019. “Sometimes you need to see if a guy is going through something and pick them up. It’s been a great experience. I’m happy here. I’m comfortable here. I’m treated well here. It’s been amazing. To be happy and be at peace, I would’ve been shocked. I wouldn’t have thought it was possible.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mike Sweetney, one of Georgetown basketball’s greatest players, dies at 43
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