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Ex-Stanford captain, 35, reportedly dies playing pick-up hoops

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Former Stanford captain Peter Sauer has died.

He was playing pick-up basketball Sunday night in New York and suddenly collapsed, according to reports:

Sauer collapsed during a game, hit his head and never was revived, Montgomery said. He was 35.

“He was a terrific kid, an unbelievable student-athlete,” said Montgomery, now the basketball coach at Cal. “Smart, tough, great team member.

“It’s awful (news). It’s hard to figure. He had a great life, was in great shape . . . you just don’t know.”

Sauer and his wife Amanda had three daughters. He worked in the financial world.


UPDATE: Here are some more details from LoHud.com:

A witness said Sauer was standing on the right side of the foul line as someone was shooting a free throw, when he fell back, hit his head on the concrete court, began bleeding and stopped moving.

Police received the first report that a man had collapsed on the court at 8:50 p.m., and a patrol car and ambulance arrived six minutes later, Public Safety Commissioner David Chong said. Authorities made their way through a large crowd at the park on Ferris Avenue to get to Sauer, Chong said.


Sauer averaged 9.2 points as a captain of the 1998 Final Four team and 8.6 points in 1999, when Stanford won the Pac-10 title.

Portland head coach Eric Reveno, who was an assistant on Mike Montgomery’s Stanford staff while Sauer played, tweeted “Coaching is like parenting, no real favorites. Just qualities you love in each. Peter Sauer had a bunch to love. RIP.”

Thoughts and prayers go out to the Sauer family.

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.