GU’s Raivio moves forward after friend’s death

This hasn’t been the easiest of weeks for Derek Raivio.

But Gonzaga University’s junior point guard is doing his best to “get back to the grind and into the flow” of the college basketball season once again after taking some time off to help bury a friend.

Raivio missed practice on Monday to serve as a pallbearer at the funeral of David Heller, a 17-year-old friend and fellow basketball junkie, who died unexpectedly in his sleep last week at his home in Portland.

Heller, a student and basketball player at Central Catholic High School, died from what a medical examiner called an “enlarged heart.”

“It makes you realize what’s really important in life,” said Raivio, who returned to the GU campus Tuesday and pushed aside his grief long enough to help the Bulldogs hold off Portland State 89-80 on Wednesday.

Next up for Raivio and the sixth-ranked Bulldogs is a huge early-season showdown against the University of Washington on Sunday.

Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Huskies’ Bank of America Arena in Seattle, and while Raivio fully understands the importance of the game, he knows it won’t be enough to make him forget his departed friend.

“It’s something I’ll never get over,” he said. “He’ll always be in my heart, but I’ve got to move on, and, if anything, maybe dedicate the rest of this year to him. Hopefully, if he’s looking down, that’ll put a smile on his face.”

Raivio, who grew up across the Columbia River in nearby Vancouver, said he had known Heller and his family for almost 10 years.

“My dad (Rick) and his (Jeff) played basketball together at the University of Portland,” he explained. “Me and my brother (Nik) got to know him really well. They’d come to our house for the Fourth of July and other family dinners and stuff, and we played a lot of pickup basketball games together.”

According to newspaper reports, Heller was a straight-A student who was expected to be the starting shooting guard on his high school team this winter. He played in a scrimmage two days before Thanksgiving and died that night.

“It was difficult,” Raivio said of returning to the Portland area to help carry his friend’s casket, “especially seeing his family again and watching what they had to go through. That’s probably a parent’s biggest nightmare – having to bury one of their children.

“It makes you realize you have to value even the little things day by day.”

Raivio said he was stunned to learn of Heller’s death.

“He seemed in perfect health the last time I saw him,” he recalled. “It’s just crazy how you can have a heart attack like that with little or no warning.”

Raivio said it seemed eerie that Heller’s death came just a few months after former Gonzaga teammate Ronny Turiaf was diagnosed with an enlarged aortic root.

In Turiaf’s case, however, the ailment was discovered in time to be treated.

Heller wasn’t so fortunate.

“It’s sad,” Raivio admitted, “and hard to understand. I guess God just wanted him up there with him instead of down here with us.”