Autopsy report released on Vance-Granville player

Raymond Dunn, the Vance-Granville Community College basketball player who collapsed during a game in February, died of a heart condition, according to an autopsy report released Friday.

The Henderson sophomore most likely died of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, according to the report released by the N.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

It's a disease in which the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick, making it harder for the heart to pump blood, according to the Mayo Clinic Web site.

Because there are few, if any, symptoms, the disease often goes undiagnosed.

The autopsy noted that Dunn had recently undergone a cardiac evaluation that didn't result in specific findings.

Dunn, 20, a criminal justice major, collapsed as a teammate was preparing to shoot a free throw during a home game against Guilford Technical Community College on Feb. 20.

The father of a teammate, several nurses and a team trainer went onto the court, and CPR was performed on Dunn. He was hooked up to a defibrillator after an ambulance arrived. Dunn later died at Maria Parham Medical Center.

The game was forfeited, but the school finished its season, falling in the second round of a National Junior College Athletic Association regional tournament.

Dunn, a 6-foot-4 forward who was one of the top junior college basketball players in the nation, made the school's dean's list for the fall semester and planned to play at a four-year college.

Dunn attended Northern Vance High and Norlina Christian School, where he led the school to the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A tournament in 2008.

In March, Dunn was posthumously named a first-team All-America by the National Junior College Athletic Association.