ORLANDO, Fla. — An ESPN Outside the Lines report that aired Sunday morning raised questions about the death of football player Ereck Plancher and the way the University of Central Florida handled the situation before, during and after he died following a workout.

The report corroborated previous stories in the Orlando Sentinel, including interviews with four players on the team who witnessed Plancher's final workout and talked about the severity of the session.

They requested anonymity because they feared losing their scholarships.

ESPN reporter Mark Fainaru-Wada interviewed numerous sources for his report, including former players James Jamison and Jevaughn Reams.

"They ran a player to death," Jamison said on camera during the ESPN segment.

Plancher, a 19-year-old freshman wide receiver from Naples, Fla., collapsed March 18 inside the Nicholson Fieldhouse during offseason conditioning drills supervised by Coach George O'Leary and his staff.

Plancher was taken to a nearby hospital and later died.

An autopsy report later found Plancher died after the workout triggered a sickle-cell trait episode, causing his organs to shut down.

Plancher's parents have informed Central Florida officials they intend to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the university. Central Florida officials have repeatedly said Plancher received excellent care at the university and he was treated properly by trainers and coaches.

"From what we have learned to date, our review of the March 18 workout has shown that coaches and staff acted appropriately," Athletic Director Keith Tribble said in a statement issued by the university.

ESPN reports a six-month investigation found:

Coaches and team trainers were aware Plancher suffered from sickle-cell trait, but they didn't appear to observe precautions recommended by a national athletic trainers' organization nine months before Plancher died.

Plancher appeared to be struggling at the end of the March 18 workout, and eyewitnesses say coaches and trainers were slow to respond.

After Plancher's death, O'Leary and athletic department officials significantly understated the difficulty of the conditioning session.

Some of Plancher's teammates were afraid to discuss details of the workout for fear of losing their scholarships. Jamison was the sole former player to provide an on-camera interview to ESPN and was quoted extensively.

He said he left the UCF football team because of lack of playing time and transferred to Division II Texas A&M Commerce.

The school did not begin interviewing players about the incident until more than a month after it happened.

O'Leary said in a statement issued by UCF, "I am aware of the ESPN broadcast today, but there is a pending lawsuit from the Plancher family which prevents me from speaking as openly as I would like. We all mourn the loss of Ereck. This was a tragedy unlike anything I have every experienced in 40 years of coaching."

The ESPN report also mentions difficulty obtaining public records from UCF following Plancher's death.

The Sentinel, along with ESPN, is continuing to seek records in connection with Plancher's death and have hired counsel to represent them in that process.