After prom night and hanging out at a school-sponsored after-party, Bellaire High School basketball star Tobi Oyedeji dropped some friends at their homes Sunday morning and then texted his father.
“Dad, I’m on my way home,” he wrote at 5:53 a.m.
About 20 minutes later, the 17-year-old’s silver Toyota Avalon veered out of its lane in the 14100 block of South Main in southwest Houston, crashing into a Jeep head-on, police said. The driver of the Jeep died at the scene, and Oyedeji died later in the day at Ben Taub General Hospital. Police did not release the name of the Jeep’s driver.
“I don’t know why this happened,” said his tearful father, Michael Oyedeji, at the family home in Missouri City.
Tobi Oyedeji was a top Texas A&M recruit, just a few days shy of turning 18, graduating from high school and starting summer college courses.
He didn’t drink or use drugs, family members said, speculating that he may have nodded off as he drove home.
Bellaire basketball coach Bruce Glover said he last spoke with Oyedeji at the school’s prom, which was held at the Westin Galleria on Saturday night. He took a group photo with Oyedeji and the rest of the team before telling everyone to be careful.
“The mourning is natural,” Glover said. “The question we ask ourselves is, what do we mourn the most — his past or his future? Because he had such a bright future and he had such a great past.”
