Greenacres Father Dies on White Plains Basketball Court

Greenacres resident Peter Sauer, age 35, died suddenly on Sunday night after he collapsed during a basketball game at Gardella Park in White Plains. An autopsy report released on Tuesday, July 10 by the Westchester County Medical Examiner’s Office found that Sauer died of cardiomegaly, an enlarged heart. He also had a fractured skull as a result of his fall at the game.

According to the police report, Sauer was standing on the court waiting for a free throw when he fell backwards and hit his head on the ground. When police found him he was bleeding from the left ear, not breathing and a pulse could not be detected. Emergency workers did CPR and took Sauer to White Plains Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 9:36 pm. Cardiomegaly may be an inherited condition, the result of a virus of the heart (myocarditis) or other conditions.

Sauer, who was 6’7” tall, was the captain of the 1998 Final Four Basketball Team at Stanford University where he played on the team for four seasons. According to the Stanford University website, he played in the NCAA tournament for four consecutive years and won the Pac-10 title in 1999. He graduated from Stanford with a degree in economics in 1999.

Johnny Dawkins, Stanford's Director of Men’s Basketball said, "Peter was a tremendous individual and a devoted husband and father. He was very passionate about Stanford and our basketball program. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, Amanda, and their three children."

Sauer was born in 1976 and grew up in Pittsburgh where he attended Shady Side Academy. After graduating from Stanford, he signed with the Atlanta Hawks and then moved to Greece to play for the B.C. Iraklis Thessaloniki professional team. Sauer recently left the Bank of America where he was a director in equity research sales since 2007. Sauer lived in Greenacres with his wife and three girls, ages 6 and under.

In an article that appeared in the Journal News, witnesses complained that emergency workers did not respond quickly enough after Sauer collapsed. They said that the 911 dispatcher was “rude” and emergency workers were slow.

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.