Alabama St. basketball player collapses and dies

4/24/2008 12:21 PM

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Alabama State basketball player Deshean Porchea collapsed and died after playing in a pickup game on campus.

The 19-year-old sophomore passed out Wednesday afternoon after walking off the court and never regained consciousness, the university said.

University spokeswoman Janel Bell said an autopsy was being performed Thursday to try to determine the cause of death. Alabama State planned a candlelight vigil Thurdsay ``He was just a good all-around kid,'' said ASU coach Lewis Jackson, who heard the news while on a recruiting trip in Florida. ``He played with a contagious fire that carried over to his teammates. He was a good person. It is a great loss to our team and our university.''

Porchea, a reserve guard, played at Luella High School in McDonough, Ga. He averaged 2.1 points on the team that won the Southwestern Athletic Conference regular-season title.

School officials said Porchea had seemed in good spirits before passing out, and there was nothing unusual about his behavior.

``Absolutely no one saw this coming - there were no signs,'' ASU President Joe Lee told the Montgomery Advertiser. ``This was a kid who was in the best shape of his life. He was in tremendous shape. The team had just come off a SWAC championship just a month ago. There was no reason for this. It's just baffling.''