KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – Tennessee basketball player Emmanuel Negedu was recovering at the University of Tennessee Medical Center on Monday night after collapsed at a team workout.

“I feel good,” Negedu said. “It means a lot that everyone has asked about me and that people are praying for me. It’s good to be a part of the Tennessee family.”

The 6’7” forward was last listed in stable condition. UT said he collapsed after lifting weights at the Neyland-Thompson Sports Complex on Lake Loudoun Boulevard.

"We did have an incident this afternoon and he was transported to the hospital,” said Bruce Pearl, University of Tennessee Basketball Coach. “He is awake, he is alert and he is in very good spirits."

He collapsed around 4:00 p.m. when according to university officials, his heart stopped beating. Team trainers quickly retrieved a nearby automated external defibrillator and revived him. Reports from the scene indicated he was conscious and alert while paramedics transported him to UT Medical.

“We appreciate everybody's concern,” said Pearl. “Have him in your prayers."

Negedu has the most interesting biography of anyone on Pearl’s team. “E-man,” as his teammates call him, was born in Nigeria. When he was 15, he made the journey to the United States.

"People were killing each other, burning each other,” Negedu told WVLT Sports Overtime’s Daryl Hobby during an interview in Spring 2009. “I had to leave"

After getting to the US, he started playing prep basketball and by his senior season was considered one of the top college prospects in the nation. Negedu originally committed to the University of Arizona before decommitting and signing with the Volunteers.

Experts always considered Negedu a “project” at the college level, meaning he has raw talent but would require a lot of training to fulfill his promise. As a true freshman for the Vols, he averaged 7.2 minutes a game with 1.9 points and 1.7 rebounds

UT officials expected Negedu to remain in the hospital overnight to undergo a battery of tests and remain hooked up to a heart monitor.

Stay with Volunteer TV News and VolunteerTV.com for the latest on this developing story.
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- University of Tennessee Vols basketball forward Emanuel Negedu collapsed at practice Monday at the Neyland-Thompson sports complex, according to multiple sources, including Volunteer TV Sports Overtime partner GoVolsXtra.com.

Negedu's heart stopped beating when he collapsed. UT trainers revived him with a defibrillator and he was was conscious and alert while on the way to to UT Medical Center.

Head coach Bruce Pearl says Negedu is in stable condition and will be hospitalized overnight to undergo further testing to figure out what caused him to collapse.

The 6'7", 218 pound forward is from Nigeria.