Though we don’t cover much collegiate sports outside of our HBCU coverage , but tragedy has struck college football with the untimely and premature passing of Washington State safety Bryce Beekman at only 22 years of age.
from 24/7 sports :
HEARTBREAKING NEWS HAS ARRIVEDto Washington State. On Wednesday morning, CF.C confirmed WSU safety Bryce Beekman, getting ready to embark on his final season with the football team, passed away.
Members of the team took to social media late Tuesday evening and delivered multiple emotional tweets, some including ’26’ in them, Beekman’s number. The 6-2, 190-pounder was just 22 years old.
The cause of death has not been announced. Once more information is made available, this story will be updated. Beekman this season was entering his fifth-year senior campaign with Wazzu.
“There aren’t a lot of details I can provide at this time, but I can confirm the death of Bryce Beekman,” Pullman Police Commander Jake Opgenorth told CF.C. “Any further details will be released by the Whitman County Coroner’s Office.”
Beekman was an Arizona Western Junior College transfer, arriving to Pullman in January of 2019. Understandably, there’s shock around the WSU community, with Beekman’s teammates being devastated by the news.
This is the second time in two years the program has seen one of its brothers pass away. In January of 2018, Tyler Hilinski passed away by suicide, rocking Cougar Nation. Since his death, ‘Hilinski’s Hope’ was born, which was formed by Tyler’s family to promote awareness and education for student athletes on mental health and wellness.
After a head-turning showing his first spring ball and fall camp at WSU, Beekman started all 13 games for the Cougars last season at free safety. On the campaign, he finished with 60 tackles, one interception, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and two pass deflections. His interception came in the unreal come-from-behind 54-53 win against Oregon State on Nov. 24.
After finishing up high school in Louisiana, Beekman spent two years at Arizona Western. He was ranked the No. 7 JUCO safety for the ’19 class and No. 67 player overall. He had double-digit offers to his name, signing with Wazzu over Nick Rolovich and Hawaii, Rutgers, Kansas State, Syracuse, Southern Miss and many others. He took his official visit to WSU for the GameDay showdown against Oregon and announced his commitment to the team a month later. He knew WSU was where he belonged.
“When I was on my official visit, it felt like home,” Beekman told CF.C right after he gave the Cougs his verbal. “The whole atmosphere there, and how the team is, I just felt like this was the best place for me.”
The young man, per the WSU athletics site, was pursuing a degree in sports psychology.
