Mark Wells was the point guard 22 years ago on the Chaminade team that pulled off the most unlikely upset in college basketball history, beating #1 Virginia. That win over Ralph Sampson and the rest of the Cavaliers proved to be the highlight of a pretty sad life for Wells. He was found shot to death on a hiking trail on Maui. Evidently, Wells was homeless, had been in and out of drug rehab and had recently been charged with sexual assault on a minor.
As a Virginia fan, mention of that Chaminade game still burns me a little, but I can’t help but feel some love for those guys. I mean they were an NAIA school with just 800 students and they beat a team with one of the greatest college players ever (yes, Virginia had many legit excuses – the game was at the end of a long trip to Japan, Sampson had missed the previous game or two with the flu and several other teammates were ill – but all those shouldn’t have added up to a close game, much less a loss). You’d like to think that players on that team would be able to continue that pattern of success in their lives, but things don’t always turn out that way. It’s a sad story.
Thanks to the Sports Frog for the link.