Houston Rockets' Yao Ming (11), of China, works for position against Atlanta Hawks' Jason Collier, right, during the third quarter Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2004 in Houston. (AP Photo)
Posted on 10/15/2005 9:57:18 AM PDT by GeorgiaDawg32
ATLANTA -- Atlanta Hawks center Jason Collier died Friday night, possibly of cardiac arrest, the team said. He was 28.
Hawks spokesman Arthur Triche said no other details immediately were available and did not say where Collier was when he died.
The 7-foot, 260-pound Collier, a five-year NBA player, spent his first three seasons with Houston before joining Atlanta in 2003. He averaged 5.6 points and 2.9 rebounds in his career.
Collier played for Georgia Tech and was drafted by Milwaukee in the first round, with the 15th pick overall, in the 2000 NBA Draft. AP NEWS The Associated Press News Service
Wow. I am sorry to hear that.
Wonder how Eddy Curry, former Chicago Bull now NY Knick, feels about this?
It would seem he either had prior damage (maybe through drug abuse) or prior undetected congenital heart issues.
Whatever the cause, he was much too young to go. Condolences to his family.
Just 28 years old. That's awful.
Overwork wasn't what caused an early death for Len Bias.
Overwork wasn't what caused an early death for Len Bias.
Good point. It should be interesting to see the coroner's report.
Houston Rockets' Yao Ming (11), of China, works for position against Atlanta Hawks' Jason Collier, right, during the third quarter Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2004 in Houston. (AP Photo)
One of my best friends died of a heart attack at age 28. He had hypercholesterolimia.
RIP.
It is horrible.
I've not followed the Hawks for a while and cannot put a face to Jason Collier, but this takes me back to the days of Pistol Pete. My God, what a player! The Hawks played at GA Tech for a while. The team was so close you could almost reach out and touch them.
When I heard Pete Maravich had died, I said a silent prayer "Please God, don't let it be drugs." It wasn't. Perhaps Jason had an undiagnosed problem.
Whatever the reason, my God comfort his family. I have a son 28. 28 is a mature, adult age, except when your own babies reach it. It is too young.
Oh wow, I just read his bio, he is just 4 days older than my oldest son. I am sure his Mama feels like I would feel, her baby is gone.
He had a wife and daughter also. So very, very sad.
Springfield News-Sun (Ohio):
Collier legacy never stopped growing
By DAVID JABLONSKI News-Sun Sports Writer
One of the first mentions in the Springfield News-Sun regarding Jason Collier was right on the mark. On Dec. 4, 1992, under the headline “Area’s young talent ready to make presence felt,” the newspaper had this to say about a Catholic Central freshman whose name would soon become known to all:
“Collier, an agile, 6-7 post, wears a size 17 high-top and is projected to reach 7-1 by the time he’s a senior.”
Well, Collier sprouted to “only” 7 feet, but the legacy of his career never stopped growing. Even with his death Saturday at 28 of apparent cardiac arrest, his place in Springfield basketball history is secure.
“You don’t see one like him come along very often,” said former North High School boys basketball coach Don Henderson, who first noticed Collier in a city recreation basketball camp when Collier was in fifth or sixth grade.
Collier was the fifth Springfield-area native to play in the NBA, joining Hall of Famer Wayne Embry (1958-69), Jim Paxson Sr. (1956-58), Dave Zeller (1961-62) and Fred Foster (1968-77).
From the beginning, there was something special about Collier — and it wasn’t just his height.
“I just remember he was very eager and willing to learn,” Henderson said. “He was a very positive youngster.”
Although Collier would find personal success with Indiana University and Georgia Tech University and in his NBA career with the Houston Rockets and Atlanta Hawks, he experienced his greatest team success here in Springfield.
Catholic Central won the Division IV state title in 1996, and Collier was the team’s centerpiece.
It was the first championship for a Springfield boys team since Springfield High won the state Class A title in 1950.
“Now I have everything I wanted this year,” Collier said after the championship game.
Jason Ronai, the point guard on that team, said winning the state title was both the happiest and saddest moment at the same time. They had their title, but the seniors would never be teammates again.
“We had all played together since we were 13,” Ronai said Saturday. “Our one goal was to win that state championship our senior year. The experience itself, even though Jason was in the NBA, he would probably tell you that that was his best experience. It was all our best experience.
“Although we were 17 and 18 years old at the time, we were kind of legends in our own minds. We felt like celebrities in the town of Springfield. It was an amazing experience because we spent so much time together as young kids striving for that one goal, and we actually achieved it.”
At Central, Collier was one of the nation’s top recruits. Indiana, Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Notre Dame and the University of Dayton made his final list.
The Hoosiers won out, and Collier announced his choice Nov. 11, 1995, with then Indiana coach Bobby Knight in front of a crowd of 200 in the Catholic Central cafeteria.
Collier would spend one full season with Indiana before deciding to leave the school in December 1997 because of problems with Knight. He then chose to enroll at Georgia Tech and play for coach Bobby Cremins.
“I recruited him as hard as anybody,” Cremins said Saturday. “When he chose Indiana, that was fine. He wanted to be closer to home.”
The Collier performance Cremins remembers most came in his Georgia Tech debut when he scored 22 points.
“That first game, he was tremendous,” Cremins said. “Also when I coached my last home game, he put on a show. He played great. I wish I had some better talent around him. Our guards were weak. We did not have a strong wing player.”
Cremins saw Collier a few months ago. Collier surprised him at home.
The two stayed in touch over the years, and Cremins followed Collier’s up-and-down NBA career.
“He really accomplished a lot the last five years,” Cremins said. “He didn’t get drafted really high (15th in the first round). Then he was in the league, then he was out. Then he played his way back in.”
Finding a place in the NBA wasn’t easy for Collier. He battled injuries during his five seasons, never appearing in more than 25 games until last season when he averaged 5.7 points and 2.6 rebounds in 70 games for the Hawks.
It appeared he had finally found a home.
“I’m definitely in the best playing shape of my career,” Collier told the News-Sun last November. “I worked real hard during the summer. I was in there every day. I just hope that everybody understands that I am committed to helping this organization and getting this franchise where they want to go. It means a lot to me that they’ve given me a two-year contract. It shows their faith in me. I want to make it worth their while.”
It was. Anyone associated with Collier discovered that.
“He always came back and helped with the camps here and was just great about that,” Henderson said. “He felt he was part of the community and was trying to return that. I always had a lot of respect for him.”
Reach David Jablonski at
djablonski@coxohio.com
Springfield News-Sun:
UPDATE — Former Central star Jason Collier dies
By CHARLES ODUM and HARRY R. WEBER Associated Press Writers
ATLANTA — Atlanta Hawks center and former Springfield Catholic Central standout Jason Collier died suddenly early Saturday, possibly of cardiac arrest, the team said. He was 28.
The team canceled a scheduled open scrimmage Saturday, as general manager Billy Knight said players were devastated by the loss of a teammate.
“Everybody was here and we made the announcement to the team,” Knight said. “The players took it hard, as you would expect. We’ll try to deal with it and keep moving forward.”
Knight said “Jason had no issues” in a preseason physical examination given to all players.
“We’ll wait until the experts can tell us, but there’s no comments about any speculating at all that I’m going to do,” Knight said. “Right now we just think about Jason and his family, his wife and a daughter.
“He was a good guy, a great teammate and a member of our organization. We’re going to miss him.”
Collier did not have any diagnosed health problems, said his father, Jeff, in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from his home in Springfield.
Jeff Collier said he received a phone call at 3:30 a.m. Saturday from Jason’s wife, Katie, who said he was having trouble breathing and quickly turned blue.
“Total shock,” Jeff Collier said of his reaction. “You get a call and it’s your daughter-in-law crying saying she’s giving him CPR and trying to keep him going. I guess it took a while for the paramedics to get there. He had a slight pulse when they took him and he passed away in the ambulance while they took him to the hospital.”
Jason Collier was named Ohio’s Mr. Basketball by The Associated Press in 1996. He averaged 25.3 points, 13.4 rebounds and 6.6 blocks per game as a senior at Catholic Central.
Collier began his college career at Indiana before transferring to Georgia Tech. The 7-foot, 260-pound Collier was a part-time starting center for the Hawks the last two seasons after playing mostly as a backup in three years at Houston.
Collier started 44 games last season, averaging 5.7 points. With the addition of Zaza Pachulia, Collier was not projected as a starter this season but was viewed as a top backup.
In two preseason games, Collier averaged 3.5 points and 3.0 rebounds.
Collier was drafted by Milwaukee in the first round, with the 15th pick overall, in the 2000 NBA draft. He was then traded to Houston.
The Hawks are scheduled to play their next preseason game at Charlotte on Monday.
Jeff Collier said his son’s only physical problems were knee surgeries when he played at Houston.
“Now all of a sudden this comes up,” he said. “We don’t know exactly what happened. I’m anxious to find out. But I guess it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference at this point.”
Jeff Collier said Jason and Katie had been married for four years and had a daughter, Elezan, who will be 2 in January.
“He was a beautiful kid,” Collier said. “Everybody he touched liked him. He played basketball from the time he was in the fourth grade until now. I don’t think the kid was ever in a fight or an altercation.”
Funeral arrangements are still incomplete, but the family plans a private viewing.
“Jason didn’t really care to be a spectacle,” his father said. “He would have wanted this to be a quiet thing. Instead of people being grim, he wants them laughing.”
The elder Collier, who played at Georgia Tech from 1972-1976, said his son decided to follow in his footsteps and wear the same No. 52, he wore at Tech. His son also wore No. 52 at Houston, but because of some knee problems he had there, the father suggested he go back to wearing No. 40, which he used in earlier playing days, when he moved to Atlanta.
“I told him go back to 40 and you’ll be fine,” his father said. “I guess he wasn’t.”
DVT
I remember when I heard Pistol Pete died, I thought it was related to his earlier drug use, especially coke. Then it was learned he had been a walking time bomb all along, and in fact, doctors were surprised he actually ended up living as long as he did with the heart condition he was born with.
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