A college student died at a Kings home game. Here’s how Sacramento State will honor him

Sacramento State senior Gregorio “Greg” Florez Breedlove’s future was finally coming together while on track to graduate this spring.

Florez Breedlove, after trying for years to pinpoint his career path, dreamed of working with athletes upon earning a degree in nutrition, food and dietetics. The 34-year-old passionate basketball fan closely followed the Kings and planned to attend chiropractic school after graduating.

“He was a helper and found that getting an education would afford him the opportunity to serve the most amount of people,” said his mother, Janet Florez. “He wanted to change the world one person at a time.”

Goals dreamed up by Florez Breedlove remain unfulfilled after he suffered a fatal medical emergency last year at the Golden 1 Center during a Kings home game against the New Orleans Pelicans, requiring paramedics to render medical aid in the 18,000-seat stadium. He died Dec. 4 from hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, Sacramento County Coroner Rosa Vega wrote in an email.

Florez Breedlove’s hard work will not be in vain: Sacramento State President Luke Wood approved honoring him with a posthumous bachelor’s degree.

“We are grateful to be in a position to bestow a posthumous degree to Greg as a result of his hard work,” Aniesha K. Mitchell, the interim vice president for student affairs at Sacramento State, said in a statement. “Although the posthumous degree will not replace the loss his family and we are experiencing as a community, it was important for us to recognize the significant academic progress Greg made toward completing his degree.”

Janet Florez said education was very important to her son because he saw it as a vehicle used by his immigrant maternal grandparents and his mother to become successful.

With a Chicano and Northern Cheyenne heritage, Florez Breedlove wanted to increase the numbers of underrepresented populations with advanced degrees. He felt a calling to attain a doctor of chiropractic degree and become a healer, Florez said.

Florez Breedlove’s close friends also remembered the basketball aficionado’s kind personality and explained how much the degree conferral would mean.

The San Luis Obispo resident possessed the rare ability to strike up a conversation with anyone — a trait that people really appreciated, said Daniel Vasquez, a longtime friend. He didn’t harbor any harmful motives, all while ensuring everyone around him was comfortable, Vasquez said.

“He just has that persona of being a … light in (the) world,” Vasquez said. “It’s pretty tough to see that go out.”

Helping athletes as a career would have brought Florez Breedlove lots of joy, Vasquez said, while adding he was very driven once learning what he wanted to do.

Tteya Matthews, another close friend of Florez Breedlove, said they bonded over a love of Kings games and their shared profession: both were licensed massage therapists. They only missed a few home games during a season.

Matthews, 27, was sitting next to him when he died. Florez Breedlove slumped over unexpectedly and she ran to get help. Paramedics attempted to revive Florez Breedlove in the stadium but were unsuccessful, according to The Sacramento Bee’s previous reporting.

“He was really excited to find a school,” Matthews said. “He was traveling to all these different chiropractic schools to check them out.”

She recalled a time she and Florez Breedlove made plans to get food at a new restaurant — that was typical of the fast friends who bonded their love of Kings and being new to the capital city, Matthews said.

But Matthews suffered anxiety the night they were scheduled to meet. Florez Breedlove came over with sour candy — which Matthews said would help with her anxiety — and helped ease her emotions.

He stayed until she felt better, Matthews said.

“I didn’t even have to ask,” she said. “He was just there.”

A life after Florez Breedlove’s death is uncertain, the two friends said.

“I don’t know what I am going to do,” Matthews said. “Because there’s nothing in my life that he wasn’t a part of.”

Family members of Florez Breedlove created a GoFundMe page to help cover funeral costs.