Midlands football player who died Saturday identified as Keenan senior
A member of the Keenan High School football team died Saturday, the school announced Sunday.
Richland One School District said Sunday evening the player was Donadrian Robinson. He was a senior starting offensive lineman for the Raiders football team, a member of the school’s track and wrestling teams and also was in the school’s band.
Robinson’s death did not occur during a practice, according to sources with direct knowledge of the circumstances. Keenan’s football team has yet to play a regular-season game because of COVID-19 protocols. The Raiders are scheduled to return to practice for the first time in two weeks on Monday and host Dreher on Friday in their season opener.
“We are saddened about the tragic loss of one of our students. Donadrian Robinson, a senior at W.J. Keenan High School, died unexpectedly Saturday,” Richland One superintendant Craig Witherspoon said in a statement. “Donadrian was a member of the W.J. Keenan Raiders football team. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and the students, faculty, staff at W.J. Keenan. The district’s Crisis Team will be at the school tomorrow to provide counseling, assistance and support as needed.”
The 6-foot, 310-pound Robinson known as “Big Donnie” by his friends and teammates was a four-year starter for the Raiders and was honorable mention all-Region 4-3A selection last season. He was named one of the Midlands’ Top 10 lineman to watch this season by The State newspaper.
Keenan’s athletic department put out a message on social media Sunday morning, announcing one of its student athletes died. Later that evening, Keenan athletic department website posted a tribute to Robinson.
“The WJ Keenan Family suffered a loss, as one of our student-athletes passed away. We’d like to offer our condolences to the family and football program. Please keep them in your prayers. Thank you for all of the messages and kind words,” Keenan’s athletic department posted Sunday on Twitter.
It is the second death involving a Midlands high school football player this week. Dutch Fork senior offensive lineman Jack Alkhatib died after collapsing at Tuesday night’s practice. A memorial was held for Alkhatib on Friday night at Dutch Fork’s football field.
The Silver Foxes didn’t play this week. They’re expected to return to practice Monday and play at Byrnes on Friday. Dutch Fork’s Twitter account and Alkhatib’s mother, Kelly, posted their condolences to the Keenan athletic department.
Tributes and messages poured in across social media on Sunday night from high school programs players and college coaches.
From the Dutch Fork Twitter account: “We understand this pain all too much. Sending our thoughts and prayers to the @wjkeenanraiders family, the family of the student-athlete, an all those impacted.”
This story was originally published August 29, 2021 at 12:28 PM.
