Zeke Upshaw

Zena Ray "Zeke" Upshaw (May 27, 1991 – March 26, 2018) was an American professional basketball player. He began his college basketball career with the Illinois State Redbirds. After playing sparingly for three seasons, he transferred to join the Hofstra Pride, where he led the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in scoring and was named second-team all-conference. Upshaw played professionally in Slovenia and Luxembourg before returning to the United States and joining the Grand Rapids Drive of the NBA Development League (now known as the G League). In the Drive's regular season finale in 2017–18, he collapsed on the court in the game's final minute and died two days later.[1]

Zeke Upshaw
Personal information
Born(1991-05-27)May 27, 1991
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedMarch 26, 2018(2018-03-26) (aged 26)
Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High schoolU. of Chicago Laboratory Schools
(Chicago, Illinois)
College
NBA draft2014: undrafted
Playing career2014–2018
PositionSmall forward
Career history
2014–2015Helios Suns
2015–2016Basket Esch
2016–2018Grand Rapids Drive
Career highlights and awards
  • Second-team All-CAA (2014)

High school career

Upshaw was born in Chicago. As a child, he gravitated toward basketballs at Toys "R" Us over all the other toys in the store.[2][3][4] He began playing organized basketball when he was six.[3] Upshaw attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools where he averaged 24 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists as a junior in 2008,[5] when he was named the most valuable player (MVP) of the Independent School League.[6]

College career

After redshirting his first year at Illinois State University (ISU), Upshaw played three years for the Redbirds, albeit with minimal playing time.[7] He averaged 1.6 points per game, while never averaging more than 7.4 minutes played per game.[8] He graduated from Illinois State with a degree in apparel, merchandising and design in 2013, but transferred to Hofstra for his final season of NCAA eligibility.[9] Upshaw exercised the graduate transfer exception, which enables players who have already received their degree but have eligibility remaining to be able to play immediately at another school while studying for a post-graduate degree in a discipline that was not available in their previous school.[10][11] He was seeking a school where he could be an "impact player and have an opportunity to [play professionally] overseas or somewhere."[11]

After receiving his release from ISU, Upshaw was originally recruited by Niagara coach Joe Mihalich. However, the coach left soon for Hofstra, where he told Upshaw the opportunity to play was even higher because four players had been kicked off the team after a burglary incident.[11] On January 15, 2014, Upshaw scored 27 points and tied a Pride record with seven three-pointers in a 69–64 win over UNC-Wilmington.[12][13] He led the CAA in scoring at 19.8 points per game,[14] and earned second-team All-CAA honors.[15] His 17.3 points per game increase over his 2.5 average from 2012 to 2013 was the largest increase in Division I basketball.[16]

Professional career

After going undrafted in the 2014 NBA draft, he passed on the option to enter the NBA Development League Draft.[17] Instead, he signed with Helios Suns of the Premier A Slovenian Basketball League in September 2014.[18][4] In 30 games for Helios in 2014–15, he averaged 9.8 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.[19]

In August 2015, Upshaw signed with Basket Esch of Luxembourg's Total League for the 2015–16 season.[19] In 27 games, he averaged 20.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.[20]

After deciding to enter the 2016 NBA Development League Draft,[17] Upshaw was selected in the fourth round by the Grand Rapids Drive.[21] In 34 games for the Drive in 2016–17, he averaged 6.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.[22]

Death

On March 24, 2018, Upshaw scored 11 points in the regular-season finale to earn a playoff spot for Grand Rapids in a 101–99 home win over the Long Island Nets.[23] In the game's final minute, however, he collapsed and was taken off the court at DeltaPlex Arena on a stretcher.[23][24] Paramedics started cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the ambulance, seven minutes after his collapse, and his heart did not start again until 40 minutes later in the hospital.[25] Two days later on March 26, Upshaw died in Spectrum Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at the age of 26.[26] The Kent County medical examiner's preliminary determination after conducting an autopsy was that Upshaw had a sudden cardiac death.[27] It was later expanded to state Upshaw had "cardiac abnormalities" that his family had no prior knowledge of.[28] Out of respect for Upshaw, the NBA G League delayed the first round of the 2018 playoffs,[29] while the Detroit Pistons gave him an honorary call-up to the team on March 29 for their game against the Washington Wizards.[30]

On May 30, 2018, Upshaw's parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the NBA, the Detroit Pistons, the SSJ Group, who owns the Grand Rapids Drive, and the DeltaPlex Arena.[31] Afterwards, the Detroit Free Press reported that a year earlier, he had fainted and been diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which is the chief cause of heart-related deaths of young athletes in the U.S. and which, combined with over-exertion, is believed to have killed him.[32]

In July 2019, the NBA and the Detroit Pistons settled a lawsuit with Upshaw's family.[33]

See also

References
  1. "NBA G League player Zeke Upshaw passes away after on-court collapse during game". NBA.com. March 26, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  2. Herrmann, Mark (March 17, 2014). "Zeke Upshaw and Hofstra have been a great match". Newsday.
  3. Akouris, Tina (December 17, 2007). "Playing Smart Hoops". Chicago Sun-Times – via PressReader.
  4. Breen, Justin (September 18, 2014). "Zeke Upshaw's Basketball Journey: From Chicago's Playgrounds to Slovenia". DNAInfo. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018.
  5. "Zeke Upshaw". GoHofstra.com. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  6. Benson, Jim (August 19, 2008). "Redbirds Get Yet Another Commitment". The Pantagraph. p. B1 – via Newspapers.com.icon of an open green padlock
  7. Kindred, Randy (March 29, 2013). "Upshaw Moving On From Redbirds". The Pantagraph – via Newspapers.com.icon of an open green padlock
  8. Kieran, Darcy (January 26, 2014). "Hofstra reboot required more than Pride". ESPN.com.
  9. Hamilton, Brian (January 31, 2014). "Hofstra's Upshaw makes huge leap thanks to graduate transfer rule". SI.com. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  10. DeCourcy, Mike (January 30, 2014). "After years of DNPs, Hofstra's Upshaw takes pride in being nation's most improved". Sporting News.
  11. Benson, Jim (December 13, 2013). "Upshaw Making His Mark In Hostra". The Pantagraph. p. B1–2 – via Newspapers.com.icon of an open green padlock
  12. "Zeke Upshaw scores 27 to lead Pride win". Newsday. January 15, 2014.
  13. Kussoy, Howie (January 24, 2014). "Mihalich, Upshaw return Pride to Hofstra basketball". New York Post.
  14. Marcus, Steven (March 26, 2018). "Former Hofstra player Zeke Upshaw dies after collapsing in NBA G League game". Newsday.
  15. Fairbank, Dave (March 7, 2014). "All-CAA hoops voting". Daily Press.
  16. McDonnell, Tim (May 29, 2014). "FINAL 2013-14 CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL REPORT". Colonial Athletic Association.
  17. LeTourneau, Nicholas (December 29, 2016). "Zeke Upshaw Is Poised To Take The D-League By Storm". Ridiculous Upside.
  18. "Zeke Upshaw tretji Američan pri Heliosu". delo.si (in Slovenian). September 3, 2014. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018.
  19. "Basket Esch adds Upshaw to their roster, ex Helios". Eurobasket.com. August 17, 2015. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  20. Smith, Duncan (October 31, 2016). "Grand Rapids Drive complete 2016-17 NBA D-League draft". pistonpowered.com. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  21. Wallner, Peter J. (October 31, 2016). "Meet Grand Rapids Drive's six selections from NBA D-League draft". MLive.com. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  22. "Zeke Upshaw G-League Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  23. "Former Illinois State player under doctors' care after collapses during NBA G League game". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. March 25, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  24. Doyle, Ricky (March 26, 2018). "NBA Community Shows Love For G League Player Who Died After On-Court Collapse". NESN.com.
  25. Quinn, T. J. (March 24, 2020). "G League player's death spurs awareness of sudden cardiac arrest". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  26. Ward-Henninger, Colin (March 26, 2018). "Zeke Upshaw dies after collapsing during NBA G League game". CBSSports.com. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  27. Hendrix, Leon (March 27, 2018). "ME: Drive player collapse was a 'sudden cardiac death'". WOODTV.com. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018.
  28. "Examining the Zeke Upshaw Wrongful Death Suit and What Could Have Been". 11 June 2018.
  29. "NBA G League player Zeke Upshaw passes away after on-court collapse during game". NBA.com. The Associated Press. March 26, 2018.
  30. "Detroit Pistons memorialize career of Zeke Upshaw with honorary call-up". NBA.com. March 29, 2018.
  31. Gard, Matt (May 30, 2018). "Family of G League player Zeke Upshaw to file wrongful death lawsuit against NBA". USA Today. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  32. Sang, Orion; Stoia, George (June 3, 2018). "G-Leaguer Zeke Upshaw diagnosed with heart disease year before he died". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  33. "NBA, Pistons settle lawsuit over G League player's death". The Detroit News. Associated Press. July 25, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
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