SHELBY COUNTY, KY. — East Tennessee State University basketball player Seth Coy, 19, died in a one-vehicle crash on Interstate 64 about 25 miles east of Louisville Wednesday evening while on his way home to Daviess County.

According to information from Shelby County authorities provided to the Times-Herald by radio station WAMW in Washington, Coy’s car hydroplaned on wet pavement. Coy, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from car. Authorities were not sure if speed was a factor in the crash, though they noted Coy was traveling at least as fast as the 70 MPH speed limit where the accident took place, though he was likely not going much faster than the speed limit. Authorities do not believe alcohol or drugs were a factor in the accident.

Coy, a 6-11 center, played in 24 games as a freshman for the Buccaneers, who earned an NCAA tournament bid and battled No. 1 seed Pitt tough before falling in their opening round game this past March. Coy worked his way into the ETSU starting lineup early in the season before being sidelined with a broken foot. He finished the season averaging 2.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg and nearly 11 minutes per game, and was expected to contend for a starting position for coach Murry Bartow’s club in 2009-10. In just one year with the Buccaneers, Coy had already become a “fan favorite” at ETSU according to Bartow.

“Words cannot describe the sincere heartache everyone involved with ETSU athletics feels at this time, and our thoughts and prayers go out to Seth’s entire family,” Bartow said in a statement. “For those of us who worked with Seth on a day-to-day basis as part of the men’s basketball program here at ETSU, this is devastating news. He was such a great young man with a pleasant personality, a wonderful sense of humor, and a really bright future. He was so well-liked within our team, and it was obvious by the reaction during games last year that he was a fan favorite as well. This is just unbelievably heartbreaking.”

Coy earned a Division I scholarship from ETSU after a sensational senior season for the Class 3A state champion Washington Hatchets. Heading into that season, 7-0 teammate Tyler Zeller, fresh off a nationwide recruiting battle which saw the eventual 2008 Mr. Basketball sign with North Carolina, was garnering most of the media attention.

But Coy, who saw little varsity action in his junior year and wasn’t even on the college basketball recruiting radar entering the 2007-08 season, blossomed as a senior, earning the starting nod at center from coach Gene Miiller and joining with Zeller to form one of the best big man tandems the state has seen in years. Coy just missed averaging a double-double for the 23-2 Hatchets with 13.6 ppg and 9.8 rpg. He set a school record with 26 rebounds in one game during that season, and shot 67 percent from the field, the fourth best single season total in Hatchet history. His career field goal percentage of 63 percent is second only to Tyler Zeller’s 68 percent.

Along the way, Coy — an outgoing, friendly young man whose face always seemed to carry a big smile — became one of the most popular players the Hatchet House has been home to some time. One of the most boisterous cheers from Hatchet faithful during the entire championship season came on Dec. 20, 2007 when Coy dunked during a 67-22 home win over Loogootee.

Contacted by phone Thursday afternoon, Miiller called news of Coy’s death “Very devastating” and remembered his former player for more than just his ability on the basketball court.

“He was an outstanding young man, a kid that worked really hard to put himself in position to do what he was doing, play college basketball, and more importantly to get that college degree,” said Miiller. “Everybody is going to miss him. He had a great sense of humor, the kind of sense of humor that keeps everybody in good senses all the time.

“He was one of the those guys that was a friend to everybody, no one ever said a bad word about Seth Coy,” added Miiller. “Everybody was his friend.”

One moment in particular that Miiller recalled was when the Hatchets were presented their state championship trophy at Conseco Fieldhouse after defeating Ft. Wayne Harding in March, 2008.

“Once we got that state championship trophy, he picked it up and didn’t put it down, I think he carried it all the way back to Washington,” said Miiller. “It couldn’t have been in better hands.”

Gill Chapel in Washington is handling the funeral arrangements for Coy. Visitation will be from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Saturday at the Hatchet House, with the funeral slated for 2 p.m. on Sunday, also at the Hatchet House. WAMW has set up a “Seth Coy Memorial Fund” at Old National Bank to help with Coy’s funeral costs.