Brussels Attacks: Former OU Basketball Player Severely Injured

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ROCHESTER, MI – Former Oakland University basketball player and Belgian native Sebastien Bellin was among at least 170 people injured Tuesday in the Brussels terror attacks, his former coach said.

“My ex player Seb Bellin was injured in the Brussels bombing,” Golden Grizzlies basketball coach Greg Kampe tweeted Tuesday. “Going for second surgery. Please pray for Seb.”

Bellin was severely injured in the bombings that rang out at Brussels transportation hubs Tuesday, but is expected to live. At least 34 people were killed in the bombings. ISIS has claimed responsibility.

“He was blown away and he’s got a lot of shrapnel in his legs and hips,” Kampe told the newspaper. “I was told he’s in a lot of pain but he’s doing OK. He’s going into his second surgery.”

A photograph of Bellin lying on the floor of the terminal in a pool of blood was tweeted by the Belgian basketball team BC Telenet Oostende.

“We wish our former player Sebastien Bellin lots of strength and a speedy recovery,” the team said in the tweet.

In a follow-up tweet, the team reported that still had “shards in his leg and hip” after his first surgery.

Bellin, a 6-foot, 10-inch center, played for the Grizzlies in the early 2000s. He played professionally in Belgium and in Italy for about 12 years. He commutes regularly between Belgium and western Michigan, where his wife and two young children live, for his job with Keemotion.

Kampe told The Detroit News he had planned to meet Friday with Bellin, who was preparing to board a flight to New York City when the bomb went off. Bellin recruits players for professional basketball teams in Europe and planned to talk to Kampe about Oakland University players, he said.