West Virginia's Akok Akok 'stable' at hospital after 'medical emergency' in exhibition game

West Virginia men’s basketball forward Akok Akok was taken to a local hospital after suffering a “medical emergency” Friday night during the Mountaineers’ charity exhibition game against George Mason in Morgantown.

Akok collapsed on the court in the second half. According to ESPN, Akok "was moving on the ground but seemed disoriented as he tried to get back up, prompting West Virginia medical personnel to stop him.” Akok was eventually taken away on a stretcher and transported to Ruby Memorial Hospital in West Virginia "for further evaluation” following what WVU termed a “medical emergency.”

The game eventually resumed, with WVU going on to win 85-78.

West Virginia interim coach Josh Eilert told reporters after the game that Akok is “stable, he's responsive, he wanted to make sure he congratulated his teammates, and he's in a good place right now. They're probably going to be holding him overnight, doing a lot of testing.

"Never thought I'd have to deal with a situation like that ... it's heartbreaking. Glad he's still here with us."

Forward Quinn Slazinski said "all is well" and that Akok was texting his teammates congratulations after the game.

"Everything should be good. Just a really freak accident, we're just happy everyone's OK," Slazinski said.

Eilert said George Mason coach Tony Skinn left the decision to continue the game after Akok's collapse up to him.

"I made sure the guys were in a good headspace, a good enough headspace to continue the game. That's important," Eilert said. "They wanted to play, so we decided it was best to move on and try to turn the page and get out there, warm up and go after 'em."

Akok is in his first year at West Virginia after spending last season with Georgetown and the prior three campaigns with Connecticut.