Dreadful News From AAU Ball As Player Collapses And Dies

Marvin Bagley Jr. coaches a Charlotte-based AAU team called Nike Phamily. The team was playing in Virginia Saturday night when James Hampton, a senior, called out “hey, ref,” then collapsed on the court.

He received first aid on the court but could not be revived and was later declared dead.

Although Bagley was not at this event his son Marcus, brother of former Duke star Marvin Bagley III, was there when Hampton collapsed.

What an awful, terrible thing to have happened. We can’t imagine what those young guys are dealing with tonight, leave alone Hampton’s family.

The kids decided that they would play Sunday in Hampton’s honor because they believe he would have wanted it that way.

Apparently Hampton had had seizures in the past.

Team director Jacoby Davis said this afterwards:

“He just fell down on the floor. He had seizures a year ago and I remember (one of the Team United coaches) telling me that, ‘I saw his eyes rolling back in his head.’ I ran on the court thinking he was having a seizure. A trainer came over and said he didn’t know what was wrong. Another trainer checked his pulse. He said he didn’t have a pulse. It got crazy after that.

“It’s hard to even explain. To have a kid in your program with so much life, that’s just the kind of kid he was. He was always happy. For something like this to happen, I can’t even explain it, and to have to talk to a parent not even in town and tell him that his son has died, well, that’s more devastating.”

Can you imagine placing that call?

This is just so sad and painful for everyone. Our hearts go out to Hampton, everyone involved with the team and his family. There really are no words for this.