Upcoming Rwandan teenager basketball player Jonathan Rutare passed away in the United States of America on Monday night.

Rutare who plays for Tampa Bay Christian School in Florida died mysteriously and the cause of his death has been linked to a heart attack though no autopsy report had confirmed it by press time.

The 17-year old, who was part of the U-18 team that represented Rwanda in the zone V U-18 qualifiers in 2010 where the national team finished 6th, had been in the U.S for only six months.

He was set to join his teammates preparing for this year's Zone V Qualifiers slated for July 17-26, according to Moise Mutokambari, the national team assistant coach.

Mutokambari said that the death of Rutare has shocked everyone.

"It is so sad that we have lost a promising player, who was the future of basketball in this country. We had expected to use his experience in bolstering our squad but it is unfortunate that he died so suddenly, he will be dearly missed" said Mutokambari.

The junior hoops failed to train on Monday after learning the sudden death of their team mate and on Tuesday, the whole team observed a minute of silence to remember their fallen colleague.

It is the second time in two months that the country has lost two of its sports players suddenly. Last month Amavubi defender Patrick Mafisango died in a horrific car crash in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.