The UCLA neighborhood is in deep sorrow over the death of one of its own. Former UCLA and Corona Centennial High basketball star Jalen Hill has passed away.
The family of a former UCLA basketball player confirmed the devastating news. He was 22 years old.
“We know Jalen has played a part in the lives of so many people,” the family shared on Instagram Sept. 20. “We also acknowledge the role that so many of you have played in his. As we try to navigate this devastating time in our lives, we ask that you please give us time to grieve. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.”
Hill’s cause of death was not publicly disclosed by his family, but according to the Los Angeles Times, the family told Hill’s high school coach Josh Giles that he died after recently going missing in Costa Rica.
Coach Josh Giles, who coached Hill for four years said that they grew very close during Hill’s time at Centennial.
“He lived on the same block as I did. I’d pick him up and take him to school every day with (teammate) Sedrick Barefield,” Giles said. “It would take 25 minutes to get to and from school every day, so we’d talk in the car, and it was never about basketball.”
“We’d talk politics, relationships, religion. He was a very curious, intelligent kid. I loved him. He was the best,” Giles added.
No cause of death has been provided, but Giles confirmed the news after exchanging text messages with George Hill.
Hill participated in Bruins games from 2017 to 2021. Hill announced that he will be leaving basketball midway through his final season with the club, citing reasons related to his mental health. Hill also quit the UCLA basketball program.
However, following a global shoplifting controversy, Hill was open about his battle with anxiety and despair. He addressed his feelings after leaving the team when he and teammates Cody Riley and LiAngelo Ball were arrested for shoplifting on the team’s trip to China to play Georgia Tech in November 2017. This led to season-long penalties.
On January 30, 2021, Hill played his final game for the Bruins, finishing scoreless in 11 minutes against Oregon State. He didn’t put on a uniform once again as UCLA proceeded to the Final Four.
“I decided to distance myself because the headspace I was in was damaging to the team,” Hill said in an Instagram video after the season. “I didn’t want to restrict them from achieving their goals too.”
He claimed that being detained in China when he was 17 and the various changes occurring all around him had a negative impact on him both on and off the court.
In a phone interview with the Southern California News Group, Hill said, “With the whole China episode, then the next year my coach (Steve Alford) got fired, then we had an interim coach and then a new coach (Mick Cronin). It was just a lot of new things coming into my life.”
Hill, a 6-foot-10 center known for his agile rim protection, graduated from Centennial in 2017 after finishing his senior season with averages of 18.8 points and 12.5 rebounds.
He moved to Westwood for his freshman year that same fall, redshirted the 2017–18 campaign, then played in 77 games over three seasons at UCLA, making 40 starts while averaging 6.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, and eight double-doubles in his career.
As soon as word of the athlete’s loss circulated, those closest to him expressed heartfelt tributes to Hill.
The former student-athlete Jalen Hill passed away, and the UCLA Men’s Basketball team issued a statement on Twitter saying, “Our program is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former student-athlete Jalen Hill. We offer our most sincere condolences to his family and friends during this difficult time.”
On social media, UCLA men’s basketball head coach Mick Cronin expressed his sympathy to Hill’s family.
He tweeted on September 21 that the news of Jalen Hill’s passing was “heartbreaking”. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time. Jalen was a warm-hearted young man with a great smile who has left us far too soon.”
Sources: Dailywire, Latimes, Iheart
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