Hey Greendoberman,
I think our school is cursed
LOS ANGELES -- A 17-year-old high school basketball player from upstate New York died after playing a summer league game at Loyola Marymount University.
Miguel Respress walked off the court Thursday to get a drink when he suddenly collapsed in a hallway surrounded by his teammates. Paramedics tried to revive Respress, but he was pronounced dead at a hospital.
The teen's family was en route to California Friday. An autopsy was planned.
Respress, a junior from Niagara Falls High School, was in Los Angeles as a member of the G.C. Ballers, a Buffalo, N.Y.-based AAU team.
"We won the game, come out after the game, we were just sitting in the courtyard and giving the kids Gatorade and he just opened the Gatorade and he just passed out," G.C. Ballers coach Jeff Bishop told KCAL-TV.
Niagara coach Dan Bazzani said Respress did not have any prior health issues and suffered mostly from typical basketball injuries. Earlier this year, Respress was sidelined for a couple of games because of a wrist problem, Bazzani said.
"It's a tragedy," Bazzani said Friday in a telephone interview from Niagara Falls, N.Y. "I still can't come to grips with it. He had an outstanding future."
Members of the G.C. Ballers planned to return to upstate New York Friday night, Bazzani said.
At 6-7, Respress was part of an all-star team made up mostly of players from the Niagara Falls High School State Championship team. Respress helped Niagara Falls to a 28-1 record, as well as New York State Class AA Public School and Federation championships.
Tournament organizer Phil Bryant said all games were canceled after Respress' death. The competition, which featured 192 teams from across the country, began Wednesday and was to last through Sunday with the championship game.
Counselors at Niagara Falls High School were available Friday to speak with students, said Principal Mark Laurrie.
"We're totally shocked, totally saddened," said Laurrie. "It's quite unbelievable."
Fifteen years ago, Loyola Marymount star Hank Gathers collapsed at the school's Gersten Pavilion during the West Coast Conference tournament game against Portland and died. Gathers, 23, was found to have had a heart condition, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
I think our school is cursed
LOS ANGELES -- A 17-year-old high school basketball player from upstate New York died after playing a summer league game at Loyola Marymount University.
Miguel Respress walked off the court Thursday to get a drink when he suddenly collapsed in a hallway surrounded by his teammates. Paramedics tried to revive Respress, but he was pronounced dead at a hospital.
The teen's family was en route to California Friday. An autopsy was planned.
Respress, a junior from Niagara Falls High School, was in Los Angeles as a member of the G.C. Ballers, a Buffalo, N.Y.-based AAU team.
"We won the game, come out after the game, we were just sitting in the courtyard and giving the kids Gatorade and he just opened the Gatorade and he just passed out," G.C. Ballers coach Jeff Bishop told KCAL-TV.
Niagara coach Dan Bazzani said Respress did not have any prior health issues and suffered mostly from typical basketball injuries. Earlier this year, Respress was sidelined for a couple of games because of a wrist problem, Bazzani said.
"It's a tragedy," Bazzani said Friday in a telephone interview from Niagara Falls, N.Y. "I still can't come to grips with it. He had an outstanding future."
Members of the G.C. Ballers planned to return to upstate New York Friday night, Bazzani said.
At 6-7, Respress was part of an all-star team made up mostly of players from the Niagara Falls High School State Championship team. Respress helped Niagara Falls to a 28-1 record, as well as New York State Class AA Public School and Federation championships.
Tournament organizer Phil Bryant said all games were canceled after Respress' death. The competition, which featured 192 teams from across the country, began Wednesday and was to last through Sunday with the championship game.
Counselors at Niagara Falls High School were available Friday to speak with students, said Principal Mark Laurrie.
"We're totally shocked, totally saddened," said Laurrie. "It's quite unbelievable."
Fifteen years ago, Loyola Marymount star Hank Gathers collapsed at the school's Gersten Pavilion during the West Coast Conference tournament game against Portland and died. Gathers, 23, was found to have had a heart condition, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
