Vandy pitcher Donny Everett has passed away

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Vanderbilt spokesman Rod Williamson said the status of Friday's game has not yet been decided because the university is still gathering information and athletics director David Williams is traveling back from the SEC spring meetings in Destin, Fla. Everett, 19, just finished his freshman year at Vanderbilt. He was one of the nation’s top high school pitchers while starring at Clarksville High. A Coffee County emergency dispatcher said emergency crews were called to a drowning in Normandy Lake about 5 p.m. The sheriff’s office and an emergency squad ambulance were sent to the scene, the dispatcher said. Normandy Lake, which is located in Manchester, is about 44 minutes southeast of Murfreesboro by car. It is a popular spot for fishing and swimming. Everett is the second Vanderbilt student-athlete to die in a drowning accident in just over a year. In May 2015, former Vanderbilt basketball player Dai-Jon Parker, 22, drowned in Indianapolis. Everett, the 2015 Gatorade Tennessee Player of the Year, was among the rising stars in Vanderbilt’s No. 1 ranked recruiting class a year ago. He sat out the first half of his freshman season at Vanderbilt with an injury, but he pitched well once he took the mound with a 1.50 ERA in 12 innings. He was drafted in the 29th round in the 2015 draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. He was drafted so late because major league teams knew that he was intending to enroll and play at Vanderbilt. CBS Sports baseball reporter John Heyman reported in June 2015 that Everett would have been a first-round pick and received a signing bonus of up to $2.5 million if he had decided not to enter college and turn professional out of high school.

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