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Monday, June 5, 2023 | 5:36 p.m.
More than four months after UNLV football player Ryan Keeler passed away, the Clark County coroner’s office announced on Monday that the 20-year-old died of natural causes.
Keeler died on Feb. 20, following a week-long illness.
According to the coroner’s office, Keeler’s cause of death was cardiac dysrhythmia due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. In a statement released by the coroner’s office, that condition is described as “essentially a fatal arrythmia due to thickening of the heart muscle.”
Keeler transferred to UNLV from Rutgers before the 2022 season. In his lone campaign with the Scarlet and Gray, the Illinois native appeared in seven games and recorded a sack.
Keeler was participating in offseason workouts and began feeling sick on Feb. 13. According to a police report, UNLV football head athletic trainer and director of sports medicine Alfred Castillo told police Keeler had been prescribed medication on Feb. 17.
When Keeler failed to reply to a wellness check on Feb. 20, an assistant coach broke down the door to Keeler’s apartment and found him unresponsive.
In the release announcing the cause of death, the coroner’s office offered a message of support for Keeler and those who knew him.
“We join the community and members of UNLV athletics in mourning the loss of this rising football star and send our condolences to Ryan’s family and friends,” the statement read.
The UNLV football team held a vigil for Keeler on Feb. 15. The 2023 season will begin with a home game against Bryant on Sept. 2.
