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B-Ball Player Dies At Practice

October 13, 1999 / 2:30 AM EDT / AP

A Warren Wilson basketball player died after he apparently stumbled head first into a cinder block wall while running sprints.

Adam Stein, 20, of Nashville, Tenn., died of a broken neck at around 6 p.m. Monday in the school's gymnasium, the college said in a statement.

"I had turned my back and didn't see what happened," coach Steve Henry said Tuesday, his eyes red from crying after a one-hour memorial service. "A couple of the players started yelling and two of them started CPR on Adam."

The college had installed padding on the cement gym wall underneath the baskets, but had none along the rest of the wall's face. There is about 10 to 12 feet from the wall to the court's baseline, where players running sprints, turning around and heading back to the other baseline.

"It's hard to understand how this could happen with that much room," Henry said. "He must have stumbled about 12 feet. It's unbelievable."

Stein had transferred to Warren Wilson from Front Range Community College in Boulder, Colo. He played high school basketball at University School of Nashville until his senior season, when he decided to concentrate on other interests, according to his prep coach.

"He was a real artistic-type kid, very nice to everyone," coach William Belliford said.

Warren Wilson participates in the National Small College Athletic Association, a group of about 75 colleges and universities around the country with enrollments of 1,000 or less.