UCLA Basketball Community Reacts to the Death of Jalen Hill
The UCLA community was dealt some tragic news Tuesday night.
Former UCLA men's basketball forward/center Jalen Hill, who left the team less than two years ago, was reported dead by his family. Hill had recently gone missing in Costa Rica, but his family elected not to share any details of his death.
Hill retired from basketball in 2021, stepping away from the Bruins midseason due to feelings of depression and anxiety that stemmed back to 2017 when he and two teammates were arrested for shoplifting in China, before those feelings were ultimately exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Hill opened up publicly about his struggles in April 2021, right after UCLA made its unexpected run to the Final Four, and he had been praised as a mental health advocate ever since.
Right as the news of his death came out, Hill's former UCLA teammates started to share their condolences on their respective Instagram stories. Throughout the rest of the night, people who knew Hill from Westwood, his high school days at Centennial (CA) or his AAU team, the Compton Magic, all banded together to grieve and share stories of their old friend.
Several of the coaches who worked with and mentored Hill over the years shared their thoughts on his passing, with Compton Magic co-founder Etop Udo-Ema posting a recent video Hill had sent him for his 50th birthday.
Several members of the media chimed in as well, sharing some of their favorite stories about Hill from his four years with the Bruins.
Hill was a part of four different UCLA men's basketball teams, sharing the locker room with nearly 30 other Bruins from 2017 to 2021. The big man made an impact beyond Pauley Pavilion and the Mo Ostin Center, though, as he built connections with many other student-athletes on UCLA's campus and elsewhere.
From fans and alumni of the basketball team to parents of his former teammates, Hill left his mark on countless others over the years, and many took to social media to celebrate his life Tuesday night.
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