CHICAGO — Basketball star Tim Triplett's death has spawned a Thursday conference featuring basketball coaches from at least 10 West Side schools in hopes of stopping gun violence.
Coaches from Westinghouse, Marshall, Farragut, North Lawndale College Prep, Whitney Young, Crane, Providence-St. Mel, Al Raby, Clemente and Collins high schools will convene at 4 p.m. Thursday at Breakthrough FamilyPlex, 3219 W. Carroll Ave., to "devise an action plan for summer 2015 aimed at reducing violence rates among teens in their communities," according to a news release.
Triplett, 20, of the 4400 block of West Adams Avenue, was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital at 1:15 p.m. Sunday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. Around 12:45 p.m. Sunday, police found Triplett unresponsive in the 3500 block of West Flournoy Street after being shot multiple times, said Officer Veejay Zala, a Chicago Police Department spokesman.
Triplett was a basketball standout and the team captain at Marshall, and he also played hoops at Crane. Triplett graduated from Marshall in 2014 and was attending Wilbur Wright College. He had hoped to return to basketball next year, his former coach at Marshall, Henry Cotton, said.
"When you remember him, you just see that big smile," Cotton said Monday, adding he was shocked to hear about the shooting of the "great and tough kid."
"I was hurt, very hurt. That's the only word to really describe it. I was shocked his name and number were called," Cotton said.
The coaches' campaign against violence features "conflict resolution workshops hosted by crisis counselors, community policing officials, and other professionals," plus a "hoops summer league component with a rigorous early morning cross-training program," according to the release.
Coaches from Lane Tech, Von Steuben, Kenwood and Prosser high schools also are expected to attend, the release said.
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