RIP (Dead basketball players thread)

[worldbasketball]

A Slippery Rock University basketball player died after collapsing during practice due to an apparent heart attack. Jack Hill Jr., 21, a senior information technology major from Roselle, NJ, collapsed suddenly during a basketball conditioning exercise in Morrow Field House. He received immediate CPR attention from SRU coaching staff until Slippery Rock Volunteer Fire Rescue Team personnel arrived on the scene. Hill was then transported to Grove City Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

According to Kevin Reynolds, head coach of SRU's men's basketball team, Hill was a member of the team and basketball family both last year and this season. "Jack's importance or value to our team could not be measured by typical basketball statistics," he said. "His dedication, unselfishness, enthusiasm and energy displayed on a daily basis played a significant role in our NCAA Tournament berth in 2010-2011."

In addition to the basketball team, Hill was a dedicated member of SRU's Building Bridges organization.

A basketball tournament will be held in Jack's honor on Saturday, October 1st at Aebersold Recreation Center.

[worldbasketball]

Lewis Brown, a high school and college basketball prodigy who spent the past 10 years living on a sidewalk in Hollywood, seemed on the verge of a second chance. He had scraped enough money together to get a California identification card so he could fly to visit a sister in New York who had thought him dead. Friends said that he would finally get off the street.

[worldbasketball]

Lewis Brown, a high school and college basketball prodigy who spent the past 10 years living on a sidewalk in Hollywood, seemed on the verge of a second chance. He had scraped enough money together to get a California identification card so he could fly to visit a sister in New York who had thought him dead. Friends said that he would finally get off the street.

That was on Tuesday. But Wednesday, around 6 a.m., Mr. Brown, breathless and frantic, was pleading for someone to call an ambulance. By the time help arrived, Mr. Brown — 300 pounds, 6 feet 11 inches — was lying on the ground. A half-hour of efforts by four paramedics — as his neighborhood friends shouted: “Come on, Big Lew! You can make it” — could not save him.



For Mr. Brown — a star high school center who once seemed destined for a spot in the N.B.A. — all that was left on Thursday was a Staples shopping cart carrying a few of his possessions: a pair of sneakers, a blanket, a laminated copy of a New York Times article from this year that detailed his sad story of decline, bitterness, drug arrests and missed opportunities. The remainder of his belongings — a mattress, some tattered clothes — had been put into a Dumpster.

Throughout the day, people who had known Mr. Brown, 56, from the neighborhood, where he would wash windows and talk about his lost basketball past in Compton and at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, stopped as they learned of his death. Tony Chauncey, a Time Warner Cable worker, said he had seen him last month and told him that he was going to a hospital to be checked for a reappearance of cancer.

“We hugged,” Mr. Chauncey said. “He said: ‘I’m giving you my healing prayer. You are going to be O.K.” Two weeks later, Mr. Chauncey said, he learned that he was free of cancer. “His last words to me were: ‘See. I told you I’m a spiritual man. Now give me $3!’ ”

Michael Kaiping, who works at a special effects rental company on the block where Mr. Brown lived, said Mr. Brown told him two weeks ago that he had raised most of the money toward his ID card so he could visit his sister, Anita, and asked to borrow $11.

“Lewis said his sister told him she needs him,” Mr. Kaiping said. “I always thought it would be very good for him to get off the streets.”

“I didn’t mind throwing him a few bucks,” he said. “He had every intention of giving me back that $11.”

Stephen Turner, who played basketball with Mr. Brown in Compton and recognized him washing windows at a gas station last year, said he would try to organize a memorial service.

Mr. Brown was long estranged from his family, though his mother had said, upon learning from a Times reporter that he was alive, that she wanted to see him before she died. Mr. Turner said the two had spoken by phone but she had not had a chance to see him in person before his sudden death.

A second sister, Jeri, who lives in Compton, had not had seen him after he resurfaced. “I pray for the best outcome for my brother,” she said after learning of his death. “God’s will is done.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/us/lewis-brown-faded-basketball-prodigy-dies-homeless.html

[worldbasketball]

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Dave Gavitt, Founding Force of the Big East Conference, Dies at 73

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Dave Gavitt, the force behind the founding of the Big East Conference in 1979 and the league’s first commissioner when it emerged as a national collegiate basketball powerhouse, died Friday in Providence, R.I., near his hometown, Rumford. He was 73.

His death, from congestive heart failure, was confirmed by his son Dan.

In the 1970s, Gavitt achieved prominence as a highly successful basketball coach at Providence College. But his most enduring achievements in basketball, first on the East Coast and then both nationally and internationally, were to come.

Gavitt envisioned a time when major basketball colleges in the East would draw on big-city television and marketing opportunities to create a high-profile league, bringing enhanced revenue and the recruitment of star high school players.

He orchestrated meetings that led to the creation of the Big East with the inclusion of seven schools: Providence, Boston College, Connecticut, Georgetown, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Syracuse.

Future stars like Patrick Ewing at Georgetown and Chris Mullin at St. John’s arrived in the early 1980s. The conference began playing its postseason tournament at Madison Square Garden in 1983, creating an Eastern version of the N.C.A.A.’s March Madness. Two years later, the Big East dominated the national championship tournament. Villanova, which had joined the Big East soon after its creation, defeated Georgetown for the championship, while St. John’s also made the Final Four.

What began as Gavitt’s East Coast basketball vision has grown into a conference with a full spectrum of sports programs, including football, and the inclusion of schools from beyond the Eastern Seaboard.

But his death came two days before the Atlantic Coast Conference announced that it was accepting Syracuse and Pitt, a Big East member since the early 1980s, as new members, raising questions about the Big East’s future.

Paying tribute to Gavitt’s leadership as the Big East commissioner from 1979 to 1990, Jim Calhoun, the longtime basketball coach at Connecticut, the defending men’s N.C.A.A. champion, told The Hartford Courant upon Gavitt’s death, “It is especially sad, considering today is certainly one of those days, with everything in the news about our league, I would love nothing more than to call him and ask him simply, ‘What do you think?’ and ‘What should we do?’ ”



Gavitt was born on Oct. 26, 1937, in Westerly, R.I., and grew up in Peterborough, N.H. He played guard for Dartmouth’s basketball team and became head coach in 1967.

Coaching at Providence from 1969 to 1979, Gavitt took the Friars to the N.C.A.A. tournament five times, including the 1973 Final Four, and compiled a record of 209-84. He was Providence’s athletic director beginning in 1971 and continuing into his first years as the Big East commissioner.

Extending his influence beyond the Big East, Gavitt was the coach of the 1980 United States Olympic basketball team, though it never competed in the Moscow Games because the United States boycotted them. He was chairman of the N.C.A.A.’s Division I basketball committee when it decided in January 1984 to expand the national tournament to 64 teams the next year.

As the president of USA Basketball, the sport’s national governing body, he helped forge a partnership with the National Basketball Association to bring pro stars onto the Olympic squad, creating the Dream Team that won gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games.

“He’s really one of the most significant people in college sports the last 30 or 40 years,” said Jim Delany, the commissioner of the Big Ten.

Gavitt was the Boston Celtics’ senior executive vice president, running basketball operations, from 1990 to 1994. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in 2006.

In addition to his son Dan, an associate commissioner of the Big East, Gavitt’s survivors include his wife, Julie; another son, Corey; and a brother and sister.

Gavitt evidently broached the idea of a Big East Conference with Lou Carnesecca, the St. John’s basketball coach, at the conclusion of coaching clinics they gave in Italy in the late 1970s. Carnesecca was skeptical, but Gavitt persuaded him to come on board, and then came the meetings creating the league.

But when Gavitt sought television money to sustain the Big East, there were more than a few doubters.

“We made a decision that the single most important thing to do with television was a prime-time package,” Gavitt told The New York Times in 1982. “And people thought we were crazy. No one thought we could do it. No way.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/sports/ncaabasketball/dave-gavitt-the-big-easts-founder-dies-at-73.html

[worldbasketball]

John Dick, the last surviving starter from the University of Oregon’s 1939 NCAA championship men’s basketball team, died on Sept 22, 2011 at the age of 92.

Dick scored 13 points and was the leading scorer in the Ducks’ 46-33 win against Ohio State in the title game. It was the first NCAA men’s basketball title game, and the Oregon team was known as the “Tall Firs” because of the height of its players. “The loss of a man like John Dick diminishes us all,” said university president Richard Lariviere.

Dick, whose jersey No. 18 is one of seven retired by the Ducks, was a regular at Oregon football and basketball games. After graduating from Oregon, Dick had a distinguised Navy career and retired as an admiral.

[worldbasketball]

Longtime New Mexico basketball coach Henry Sanchez died of a heart attack on September 19, 2011. Sanchez drove himself to Alta Vista regional hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada when he started feeling ill. He later died.

Sanchez coached basketball in New Mexico for more than 40 years picking up over 700 victories along the way. He had stops at New Mexico Highlands, Bernalillo high school and Las Vegas Robertson high school. Recently Sanchez spent his time teaching sports performance at Luna Community College in Las Vegas, Sanchez was 73 years old.

[worldbasketball]

A Greek basketball great died in September 2011.

Fedon Mattheou (Greek: Φαίδων Ματθαίου) born 1924 – died 17 September 2011, was a retired Greek professional basketball coach and basketball player. He was a center and in the end of his career a play maker and he wore the number 1 jersey throughout his career. He represented Greece as a basketball player in 1952.

He began playing professional basketball as well as many other sports, with Aris BC in 1945. In 1949, he was transferred to Panathinaikos BC. He played as well with Panionios BC, Pallacanestro Varese and Sporting BC.

Mattheou also played for the Greek national basketball team, as one of its leading members for 44 games, and he scored a total of 539 points (12.25 points per game). He also played in the very first official game of the Greek national squad, which was played at the 1949 European Championship. He was the team's leading scorer at that tournament with 66 points, while the Greek national team also won the tournament's bronze medal. He participated as a player in 2 European Championship tournaments, the 1949 European Championship and the 1951 European Championship, and also in the Olympic Basketball Tournament of 1952.

After his playing career ended, he coached the Greek national squad at 3 European Championship tournaments, the 1961 European Championship, the 1965 European Championship and the 1969 European Championship. He also coached professional sport clubs of the Greek League such as AEK Athens BC, PAOK BC, Olympiacos BC and Peristeri BC.

Fedon Mattheou is a member of the Greek Basketball Hall of Fame and he is widely considered to be the Patriarch of Greek basketball.

[worldbasketball]

An Anderson University basketball player died on 4 October. Lamar Jack collapsed during basketball practice 4 days earlier and had been hospitalized at AnMed Health Medical Center. According to the family, his hospitalization was due to complications of blood clots in the lungs and a pulmonary embolism.

A spokesperson from Anderson Unviersity says Jack was 19-years old and from Piedmont, South Carolina. The school says Jack was a redshirt freshman forward on the AU basketball team. He was the son of Karen and Patrick Jack of Piedmont.

[rikhardur]

American Chauncey Hardy killed in Romania

BUCHAREST, Romania - Authorities say American basketball player Chauncey Hardy has died after being attacked in a bar in Romania.

Romanian Basketball Federation chief Carmen Tocala told GSP radio that Hardy died Sunday, suffering two heart attacks following his beating Saturday night.

Police spokeswoman Mirela Gheta said the 23-year-old Hardy had severe head injuries and was in a coma when he was admitted to the hospital.

Hardy died shortly after undergoing surgery in a Bucharest hospital.

Hardy played for CSS Giurgiu in southern Romania and was celebrating a victory over rival Dinamo Bucharest in Giurgiu when several men were reported to have attacked him.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44836542/ns/sports/

[turk-jugoslav]

A young talent from Czech Republic '' Milan Ryska'' died in the late of 2008.He committed suicide because of unrequited love according to Czech news websites. He played final in U16 Championship in 2008 and selected in all tournament team.
u16-2.jpg

[worldbasketball]

A colleague put news about Chauncey Hardy. Here some photos of Chauncey when he was in Sacred Heart

[worldbasketball]

Anderson University basketball player Lamar Jack died October 15, 2011 after ingesting a chemical that is a key ingredient in synthetic marijuana, the county corner said. On the basis of an autopsy and the toxicology test results, Shore is ruling Jack’s death accidental — caused by “acute drug toxicity with excited delirium that led to multiple organ failure.”

The chemical found in Jack’s body is used to make fake pot, a classification of substances that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration calls synthetic cannabanoids. Those substances purportedly consist of blends of exotic herbs and plant materials that have been sprayed or coated with other chemicals. When they are ingested or smoked, they produce a feeling of euphoria in the user. The substances are often marketed as “herbal incense” or “legal highs.”
A product that was described as “herbal incense” was found in Jack’s car just after he collapsed. Those so-called “incense” products are often not what they appear to be, a spokeswoman for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration said Saturday. The chemicals in the products can produce serious — and deadly — side effects.

“The chemicals can affect each person differently,” said Dawn Dearden, a spokeswoman for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. “They can cause either reduced or increased heart rate, changes in blood pressure and nausea. They can act as a depressant or as a stimulant, depending on the person who is taking them.” The chemicals can also cause a person to become disoriented and to have anxiety attacks and convulsions.

The coroner said Jack had complained of having cramps and vision problems just before he collapsed on campus. When Jack was rushed to the emergency room, he had an “extremely elevated body temperature,” the coroner said. Shore said it is not unusual for the coroner’s office to seek assistance from an accredited lab to run and analyze toxicology tests.

Jack’s father, Patrick, found a black packet labeled “Tease” in his son’s car after the young student collapsed. The young man’s mother, Karen, met with an Anderson police officer and asked that investigators analyze what was inside the package because her husband wanted it done. Karen Jack spoke to police on a Monday night. By Tuesday morning, her son was dead.

An Anderson Police Department report describes the black packet found in Lamar Jack’s car and calls the product “herbal incense.” Sgt. Tony Tilley said Saturday that police are still waiting for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to analyze the package.“It is unknown if the contents inside are what is stated on the package,” a police officer wrote in his Oct. 3 report.

Federal officials said it is the unknown that is the most frightening ingredient in products that are marketed as “herbal incense” and sold in gas stations and convenience stores in Anderson County and across the nation.

Part of the problem is that young people believe they are buying something that is safe just because it is labeled as “incense” and can be easily bought in neighborhood stores, Dearden said.

Lamar Jack was a standout at Woodmont High School in Piedmont before committing to Anderson University. Jack was redshirted in the Trojans’ 2010-11 season, but the sophomore had been expected to contribute to the university’s basketball team this year. Tim Morris, Jack’s high school coach, described him as an easygoing kid with an even easier smile. Morris said Jack never got flustered and could always be counted on, whether he was on or off the court.

[rikhardur]

[SEN] - Obituaries: Alioune Diop is dead

The first national coach of Senegal, Alioune Diop, winner an African Cup of basketball, died Wednesday in Dakar.

Alioune Diop led the first team of Senegal to the victory in the final of the African Cup in 1968, giving to him the name of "father of Senegalese basketball."

Native of St. Louis, the late engineer has even brought in its wake Bonaventure Carvalho, one of the most successful coaches of basketball.

Alioune Diop was the first national technical director of the discipline, forming a winning combination with Bonaventure Carvalho.

Former player and coach, Diop has been international in France team before investing himself in the Senegalese basketball.

He was recently honored by the Fiba-Africa as a pioneer of African basketball.

http://www.fibaafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1527%3Asen--necrologie--alioune-diop-nest-plus&catid=75%3Asenegal&Itemid=128&lang=en

[worldbasketball]

A Stamford man being held at Bridgeport Correctional Center since August died suddenly this week during a supervised basketball game.

Lugens Telsaint, 20, was playing basketball with about 15 other inmates when he collapsed for unknown reasons, the State Police said in a release. After the prison's medical team responded, he was taken to St. Vincent's Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, the release said.
Telsaint was detained in late August for a pending arrest for violating the terms of his probation. In late September, he was also charged with second-degree assault and held in lieu of $10,000 bond for allegedly having beaten a Stamford man in July.

Telsaint was scheduled to next appear in Stamford Superior Court on November 16.

[worldbasketball]

A Olympian basketball player has died. Ilmar Kullam (1922 – 2 November 2011) was an Estonian basketball player who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1952 Summer Olympics winning a silver medal for the Soviets.



Joann Lõssov, Ilmar Kullam, Edgar Naarits in a collective photo



Here in 2007