HAMPTON, VA — A North Carolina youth basketball players collapsed and died on the court at a weekend tournament in Virginia.
James Hampton, 17, played for Team United, an Amateur Athletic Union team out of Charlotte, and was participating at the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League event Saturday in Hampton, Virginia.
Hampton fell to the hardwood with 9:37 left in the second half of Team United's game against Nike Phamily (Arizona) and appeared to be unresponsive.
On-court trainers began CPR on Hampton and continued for more than 10 minutes until paramedics arrived.
Team United director Jacoby Davis told reporters that Hampton, a 2019 college basketball prospect, was running and turned to say something to a referee Saturday night when he collapsed.
Hampton was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Davis told reporters that Hampton had suffered seizures in the past.
Hampton attended private Liberty Heights school in Charlotte and was scheduled to graduate high school next year.
Davis said Hampton's team wanted to play their final two games Sunday in honor of their teammate.
A moment of silence was held for Hampton prior to the games.
"If something like this happens, normally, it has something to do with the heart," said basketball liaison Brandon Bender.
Bender is a former All-American basketball star and now helps organize tournaments like the one Hampton was in.
Bender said this isn't the first time a player has died unexpectedly like this.
A basketball player from Raleigh, Tyrek Coger, died from an enlarged heart two years ago after an outside workout with his team in Oklahoma in hot weather.
Experts such as Bender worry the physicals high schoolers are required to take don't do enough to measure their health.
"I think it has to be heart testing. You know, put the kid on the treadmill and hooking things up to his chest to make sure, ‘Hey, everything looks right on the computer,’" he said.
Associated Press
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