Former UCLA basketball player Jalen Hill has died at age 22, the school confirmed early Wednesday morning.
UCLA coach Mick Cronin said in a statement that Hill’s death was “heartbreaking” and said the former Bruins forward “was a warm young man with a big smile who has left us well. too early”.
Hill’s family said in an Instagram post that they learned of his death recently after Hill went missing in Costa Rica, but did not release further details.
“We know Jalen has played a role in so many people’s lives,” his family wrote in the Instagram post. “We also recognize the role so many of you played in his. As we try to navigate this devastating time in our lives, we ask that you please give us time to grieve.”
Josh Giles, Hill’s coach at Centennial High School in Corona, Calif., told the Los Angeles Times that Hill was “a great basketball player, but I loved him as a person.”
“I’m so stunned, I don’t even have any emotion right now,” said Giles, who also told The Times that he had been in contact with Hill’s family. “Hearing something like that is devastating on the next level.”
The 6-foot-10 Hill played parts of three seasons at UCLA before retiring after the 2020-21 season, citing anxiety and depression in an Instagram video announcing his decision. He left the team in February 2021 but didn’t address his status until April, saying he didn’t want to distract from the Bruins’ run to the Final Four.
“I just had to distance myself because the headspace I was in was damaging the team,” Hill said in the video. “So I didn’t want to stop them from achieving their goals either.”
Hill was one of three UCLA players, along with LiAngelo Ball and Cody Riley, who were arrested in China for shoplifting in November 2017. He was suspended for the 2017-18 season but returned to the program the following season and appeared in 77 games. during his career with the Bruins, averaging 6.5 points and 6.4 rebounds.