Ben Christman, an offensive lineman in college football who transferred from Kentucky to UNLV, was discovered dead in his apartment off-campus in February at the age of 21, just a day shy of his birthday.
Christman reportedly felt chest pains the day before he died while practicing and underwent an EKG at a team facility.
On Thursday, the Clark County (Nevada) Coroner’s Office revealed that Christman passed away due to cardiac arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat, and cardiomyopathy, a condition affecting the heart muscle.
Christman was at Ohio State for two seasons before he transferred to Kentucky.
He sat out the 2023 season with a knee injury and played on special teams in 2024.
He was set to play for UNLV in the upcoming 2025 season.
“Our team’s heart is shattered by the news of Ben’s passing,” UNLV head coach Dan Mullen stated at the time of his death. “From the moment Ben arrived at our campus last month, he enhanced the Rebels program. Ben was quickly chosen for our Leadership Committee since he gained the immediate respect, admiration, and friendship of all his teammates.”
“Our prayers go out to his family and all who knew him. Ben made the world a better place and he will be missed.”
School president Keith E. Whitfield said he was “incredibly saddened” to hear about Christman’s death.
“There is little that can be said to lessen the pain of suddenly losing a member of our university family at such a young age, and my heart breaks for all who knew and loved him,” he said. “On behalf of UNLV, our sincere condolences are with Ben’s family, friends, loved ones, and teammates during this very difficult time.”
Christman was from Akron, Ohio, and played high school football at Revere High School. He was a four-star recruit coming out of high school.
Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
