Roundball Tragedies Kenie Ade Freeman, 20, a 6-foot-11, 225-pound sophomore with the Hillsborough County (Fla.) Community College men's basketball team, was stricken during a scrimmage and died.  (more)  University of Arkansas-Fort Smith’s Terrist Parramore remains in critical condition According to the Times Record, Parramore is now awake and recognizes his family and friends; can move his head and his right side; is relying less each day on the ventilator that assists his breathing; and tries to speak, despite the tube in his throat.  Parramore was shot on October 28 at a Halloween party.  Witnesses said William Steward had been touching women inappropriately at a party, and Parramore had asked him to stop.  Parramore and Steward argued, and Steward left.  Steward returned several minutes later with the 16-year-old male, pointed to Parramore and said, “That’s him.”  The 16-year-old then fired several shots at Parramore.  Please read the whole story in the Northwest Arkansas News.  Additional coverage:  Fort Worth Star-Telegram   Dallas/Fort Worth NBC 5 TV video   Terrist Parramore Medical Fund Contributions may be mailed to First Christian Church, 3600 Free Ferry Road, Fort Smith, AR 72903, or to First National Bank, Central Mall Branch, 5201 Rogers Ave., Fort Smith, AR 72903. McAdams High School (Miss) coach, Chad Jackson, was shot to death Last season Jackson coached his team to a state championship.  Video coverage from Jackson's WLBT TV    Two prep basketball players have died, at practice, in a week  On October 25, Aaron Ford, a sophomore at Ace Technial Charter School in Chicago, died while running during a tryout.  On Monday a second prep player passed away after collapsing during practice.  D.J. Chastain, a sophomore at Silex High School, was running and shooting when he collapsed onto the court.  An hour and 1/2 later he was pronounced dead. (more)   Another Roundball Shooting University of Arkansas-Fort Smith’s Terrist Parramore is still in critical condition Latest details On October 28,2006 Terrist Paramore was shot at a Halloween Party.  Witnesses said William Steward had been touching women inappropriately at a party, and Parramore had asked him to stop.  Parramore and Steward argued, and Steward left.  Steward returned several minutes later with the 16-year-old male, pointed to Parramore and said, “That’s him.”  The 16-year-old then fired several shots at Parramore.  Please read the whole story in the Northwest Arkansas News.  Additional coverage:  Fort Worth Star-Telegram   Dallas/Fort Worth NBC 5 TV video   Stubblefield Center Since 1974, the Lions have posted a .801 winning percentage with an overall record of 803 wins and only 202 losses. UAFS National Champions in 1981 and 2006     Terrist Parramore the player Parramore is a 6-4 185 guard from Southwest High School in Fort Worth Texas.  He averaged 14 points per game as a junior, but had to sit out his senior season with a knee injury.  Parramore originally signed with Missouri State, however, for academic reasons he wound up at the University of Arkansas- Fort Smith.  He was signed by former coach Jeremy Cox who has since left the school to be an assistant coach at Texas A&M.  Josh Newman was hired on July 22 to replace Cox.  Newman, who left Nevada, is a former assistant coach at UAFS under Doc Sadler (Nebraska head coach). Newman said this about Parramore in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, “Terrist is a very loyal young man.  In a situation like that, he knows what’s right. He was raised right and knows how to act.  He’s an outstanding young man with a lot of character.” Last season UAFS went 33-3 and won the school’s second national championship with a 68-59 win over Tallahassee Community College.  UAFS also won a national championship in 1981.  Ron Brewer and Darrell Walker played at the school formerly known as Westark College.   UAFS basketball site 15-year old dies during tryouts   On October 25, 2006 Aaron Ford, a sophomore at Ace Technial Charter School in Chicago, died while running during a tryout.  "He ran his last lap full pace. He was trying to get it over with," said David Armstrong, 16, a friend who was also at tryouts. "He stopped and he said, 'I'm tired,' and he fell."  Chicago Tribune Haris Charalambous, 21, collapsed and died during a conditioning workout at Toledo University on October 9, 2006    Haris Charalambous, a junior from Manchester, England, collapsed shortly after 11 a.m. at the beginning of morning conditioning workout.  He was transported to a local hospital where he passed away. According to UT team physician Dr. Roger Kruse, a preliminary report from the coroner's office indicated that Charalambous died from a small tear in the aorta, which allowed blood to empty into the surrounding tissue, known as the pericardium. The accompanying pressure on the outside of the heart makes the heart unable to fill with new blood or pump properly. "When the pericardium gets filled it squeezes the heart," said Kruse. "So even though what the emergency response and the trainers did was great, once (this occurs) the heart can't pump blood because of pressure around it." A memorial service will be held at noon on Wednesday in John F. Savage Hall.  The public event will include speakers from across the University, including President Lloyd A. Jacobs, Head Men's Basketball Coach Stan Joplin, Charalambous' teammates and local religious leaders. Latest Details   Manchester (England) Evening News story    Video- WYVG 13 ABC's coverage      Haris Charalambous   Haris playing defense in Toledo's Fan Fest game on October 15, 2005   Haris, at the age of 17, in his Manchester Magic uniform   Haris Charalambous- The Basketball Player  Haris Charalambous was always the tallest person, in his world, growing up in Manchester England.  At the age of 12 he towered over his 5-foot-7 father and five years later when he was the youngest player on the Manchester Magic, in England's Senior Men's League, he had grown to a height of 6-feet-10 inches.  Poor Haris he found it impossible to find trendy clothes and his size 16 shoes had to purchased by mail from France.    In England Charalambous never played against a player taller than himself.  Yet his size allowed him to come to the United States to play prep basketball and Harris was into the USA basketball scene.  His favorite college team was Duke and he like the Sacramento Kings the best in the NBA.   Charalambous averaged 10.3 points and 6.8 rebounds and shot 55.9% from the field during his two seasons with the Magic.  He also was the captain of England's Junior National Team and was England's 2002 Player of the Year. Haris came to the USA in 2003 and attended the Hun School in Princeton, New Jersey.  Unfortunately, he only played in one game before fracturing his ankle.  He scored 13 points with eight rebounds and 5 assists in his only high school game.   That injury meant very few colleges were able to see Charalambous, however, Toledo University Coach Stan Joplin already Haris on his radar.    "Since he was injured, no one had the opportunity to see him play," Joplin said. "And we had known about him as a player before the injury, so we just hung in there and we ended up getting him pretty late.”   Once again, at Toledo, Charalambous suffered an injury in his freshman season.  Shoulder surgery reduced his playing time to just six games and he averaged just 1.8 points.  In 2005-06 Charalambous was finally injury free.  He played in 23 games and averaged 5.4 minutes and hit 7-of-11 his field goal attempts.  This season, as a junior, Haris was expected to play more in, perhaps, a 2-man rotation with senior 6-foot-10 senior Alan Pinson, who like Charalambous had missed time due to medical reasons.      Luke Homan's body was found in the Mississippi River on October 2nd    "Clearly, intoxication played a major role in this unfortunate tragedy," La Crosse Police Chief Ed Kondracki said. "This is clearly a binge-drinking related incident."    Autopsy says Luke Homan drowned and had a blood-alcohol content of .32 (more) Latest Details Homan is remembered by teammates   WTMJ’s video coverage   Luke Homan- The Basketball Player   Luke played at Brookfield Central High School, in Brookfield, Wisconsin, for coach Mark Adams. Hoffman averaged 19.1 points per game and was named the 2003 Greater Metro Conference player of the year.  Luke was the Milwaukee area’s leading prep scorer in the 2002-03 season on a top 10-team.  In one game Homan scored 21 points in 11 ½ minutes to lead Brookfield to a 65-64 win as documented by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Like his father, Jerry, Luke was really into basketball.  Dad played college basketball at Detroit and Marquette.  JS Online story     After high school Homan walked-on at Division I Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He red-shirted his freshman season and then played in nine games in 2004-05.  He logged only 19 minutes, but he did make every shot he took.  Luke was 3-for-3 on three-pointers.  That season UWM made the NCAA Sweet 16 by beating Alabama and Boston College before losing to Illinois 77-63.   Homan decided he needed more playing time and transferred to Division III UW-La Crosse for the 2005-06 season.  He played in all 28 UW-La Crosse games coming off the bench each night.  Early in the season his minutes were limited, to normally less than 10, but late in the season he doubled his playing time and had several double-digit scoring games.  Luke’s best game was against UW-Platteville.  He played 21 minutes and scored 14 points including 10 in the second half. Homan made 4-of-5 of his field goal shots and 2-of-3 of his three-point attempts in a 60-55 win.  In his final game of the season, in the first round of the Division III Tournament, Luke scored 10 points in 22 minutes (4-8 FG, 2-5 3-pointers) in a 79-71 loss at Calvin College.  That was UW-La Crosse’s first national tourney appearance since the 1982-83 season.  UW-La Crosse finished 20-8 overall and 10-6 in the WIAC in 2005-06. The 20 overall wins were the most since 1982-83 (20-7) while the 10 conference victories were the most since 2001-02 (10-6).   A memorial fund has been set up in Homan's name. Send your donation to:   Lucas Homan Memorial Fund c/o M&I Bank 16570 W. Bluemound Road Five Duquesne Basketball Players Were Shot Early in the Morning on September 17, 2006  Details    Sam Ashaolu of Toronto, a transfer from Lake Region State College and a cousin of former Houston Rockets star Hakeem Olajuwon, has been moved in to the rehabilitation wing of the hospital. He is walking and speaking and his condition has improved quicker than the doctors expected.  He is recovering from gunshots to the head.  Last season Sam averaged 14 points for Lake Region with a high game of 29 with 12 rebounds versus NE Nebraska.  Early in the season Ashaolu had a run of six straight 20 or more point games.  Lake Region went 21-9 and 8-6 in the Mon Dak Conference.  Ashaolu took circuitous route to Pittsburgh   Sam Ashaolu- a smart and physical player      Stuard Baldonado of Colombia, a transfer from Miami Dade College, was shot in the back and left elbow which tore an artery in his arm.  He had a bullet surgically removed from his back.  Baldonado will be unable to workout for at least eight weeks.  He may redshirt this season and then he would have two years of elgibilty remaining.   In August of 2005 Baldonado was a hot JUCO prospect at Miami Dade  Baldonardo played on a Miami Dade team that started the 2005-06 season by winning 19 of 20 games.  The Sharks cooled toward the end of the season and finished 25-7.     Kojo Mensah, a guard from New York City who transfered from Siena, was  hospitalized with two gun shot wounds in his left forearm and right shoulder.  He did not need surgery.  Kojo Mensah leaves Siena for Duquesne  In 2005-06, Mensah started all 28 games for the Saints and was the teams second leading scorer with an average of 16.6 points per game.  Brooklyn pair injured in shooting    Shawn James, a transfer from Northeastern and a native of New York City, was treated and released.  Shawn James spent two productive seasons at Northeastern leading the nation in blocked shots this past season and as detailed on this video he was named the CAA Defensive Player of the Year in 2006.   In his two seasons at Northeastern, James averaged 11.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 6.04 blocked shots and hit 57% of his field goal attempts.       Aaron Jackson of Hartford, Conn. was treated and released.  Last season Jackson started 21 games for the Dukes and averaged 6.8 points and was second on the team in assists.  Here is a profile of Jackson.  Aaron Jackson- victim turned hero     Kevin Brophy  UGA's Kevin Brophy killed in car wreck  Kevin Brophy, a 21-year old guard at the University of Georgia, died in a two-car crash on Georgia Highway 15 near Greensboro, Georgia on July 20, 2006.  Brophy had worked a basketball camp in Athens at the Boys and Girls club and was driving to Savannah. Brophy, a 6-foot-1, 191 pound junior, was from Melbourne, Australia.  He walked-on at UGA and managed to earn playing time as a sophomore.  He played in 18 games and averaged 10 minutes of playing time and .09 points. Bulldogs dedicate their season to Brophy  A tribute to Brophy from down under