Tobi Oyedeji passes away after car accident

Texas A&M fans received bad news on Sunday when head coach Mark Turgeon posted on his Twitter account about a serious car accident involving class of 2010 basketball signee Michael "Tobi" Oyedeji.

"Please pray for Tobi Oyedeji. He was in a car accident last night and is battling some significant injuries. He needs our prayers," read the tweet.

The power forward from Bellaire, Texas was rated as the No. 85 prospect in the country by Rivals.com when he signed with Texas A&M. He was scheduled to arrive in College Station on May 31, one day after his graduation from Bellaire High School.

After several hours in surgery, Oyedeji was not able to recover from his injuries.

Oyedeji was involved in an accident on South Main near Hillcroft in Southwest Houston around 6:15 a.m. Sunday morning. He lost control of his Toyota Avalon and it traveled over the median and struck another vehicle before hitting a Jeep SUV head-on.

The female driver of the Jeep, 52-year-old Gertha Augustin, was pronounced dead at the scene while Oyedeji was transported to Ben Taub hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries and passed away. The driver of the third vehicle was uninjured.

Bellaire held their prom on Saturday night and held a post-prom celebration at Dave & Buster's on Richmond. Oyedeji was leaving the event when the accident occurred. He was five days shy of his 18th birthday.

Turgeon released a statement on Sunday afternoon.

"The world has lost a great kid today," 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."

The 6-foot-9 Oyedeji played in the High School Academic All-American game in Azusa, California earlier this month, where he was named the Player of the Game for the American squad after tallying 19 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots. To be able to play in the contest, players must have had a GPA higher than 3.0, high SAT or ACT scores and be heavily involved in extracurricular activities.

He was also named to the All-Greater Houston team and was a member of the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches All-State Class 5A basketball team.

Grief counselors will be available at the Houston-area high school on Monday. Many of the students that had attended prom on Saturday night learned of the news on Sunday afternoon.