Ex-Kentucky basketball player killed over cap?

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Friends of a former University of Kentucky basketball player who was shot to death in Ohio say two women arguing over a baseball cap may have led to the killing.

Malcolm Goff, 36, who was wounded during the Monday afternoon shooting, and witness Tina Underwood, 31, tell The Columbus Dispatch that Desmond Allison was talking on his cellphone outside an apartment complex when an ex-girlfriend took a cap off his head. Allison's current girlfriend, who'd given him the hat, saw what had happened and the two women began arguing, Goff and Underwood told the newspaper.

Former Kentucky player Desmond Allison killed

They say Allison exchanged words with one of the women before he and Goff walked away. Later, they say, three men approached Allison and that one of them — a relative of one of the women — argued with Allison. They say another man began shooting.

The 31-year-old Allison died at a local hospital. Goff was treated and released.

"It was a hat he didn't care about," Goff told the newspaper. "He was just wearing it to wear it."

Columbus Police Det. Michael Higgins told the Dispatch that police think the argument over the hat and the shooting are connected. He says police have not determined yet if the shooter was related to one of the women.

No arrests have been made.

CBSSports.com's Matt Norlander reports that Allison was a two-year member of the UK team, from 1998-2000. He was kicked off the squad after an arrest for a DUI and having an open container of alcohol in his vehicle. He averaged 8.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game his sophomore year.