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Report: Former college player of year Michael Brooks dies at 58

Published Nov. 15, 2016 1:45 p.m. ET

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Barry Werner

Michael Brooks, a former national college player of the year at La Salle, died Monday at the age of 58 after suffering a stroke in Switzerland, Philly.com reported.

The 6-foot-7 Brooks was coaching in Switzerland at the time of his death.

Per Philly.com:

Brooks, a standout forward at West Catholic High School who scored 2,628 points during his standout career at La Salle University (then La Salle College), suffered a massive stroke Monday during a hospital stay near his home in Switzerland, his sister Aleta Arthurs said in a phone interview.

Brooks had aplastic anemia, a syndrome that attacks the bone marrow and immune system. It was diagnosed in 2011, and he had entered the hospital late last week for a bone-marrow transplant to treat his condition. His body rejected the transplant, his sister said, and he suffered a small stroke on Sunday that precipitated the more severe one he suffered Monday.

Brooks was the player of the year in 1979-80 when he averaged 24.5 points and 11.5 rebounds for La Salle. He was also named captain of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, which did not play due to the United States' boycott of the Moscow games.

He was chosen as the ninth pick overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in 1980. Brooks played six seasons in the NBA before heading overseas. He had become estranged from his college and Philadelphia in later life.

"To me, he was a light," Arthurs said. "I was always very protective of him, and I always will be. He will be missed in our family, very missed."

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