It’s Like Losing a Brother for Teammate

Oregon State basketball player Canaan Chatman lost his closest friend when Earnest Killum died Monday after suffering his second stroke in six months.

“It was like losing a brother,” Chatman said of the Oregon State guard. “This is the first time that anything like this ever happened to me. When I first heard it, I couldn’t believe it was true. It’s hard to believe that this is really happening.”

Chatman, who shared an apartment with Killum in Corvallis, Ore., broke into tears when informed of Killum’s death at 20.

“I don’t know how to explain it, because I’ve never felt anything like this before,” Chatman said. “But I know he’s in a better place. Earnest was a Christian, and God said we’re put on this earth to die. I don’t understand why his time came so soon, but I know he’s in heaven, and he’s in a much better place.

“I don’t think Earnest had any enemies. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body. A lot of people loved him, and a lot of people are going to be hurt by this.”

Doctors who treated Killum said his death was unrelated to basketball, and Chatman said Killum didn’t think he was risking his life by returning to the court after suffering his first stroke in July.

“First in his life was God and second was basketball,” Chatman said. “He felt that God gave him the talent to play. He knew the risk he was taking by playing basketball, and he still chose to do that.”

Oregon State Coach Jim Anderson took the news hard.

“It’s just a great loss,” Anderson said in a statement released by the school. “I have a very empty feeling. I feel extremely bad for his immediate family, his teammates and coaches.

“We all loved Earnest dearly, and that’s what makes it such a huge loss. Knowing the type of person Earnest was and his beliefs, I know he’s gone to a better place.”

Dedicating last Saturday’s game against No. 2 UCLA to Killum, the Beavers took the Bruins into overtime before losing by six points.

The team returned to school Sunday and practiced Monday. Oregon State, whose workouts are open to the public and media, closed practice Monday so the players wouldn’t be distracted.

Although the Beavers didn’t know of Killum’s death when they left practice, Anderson held ateam meeting Monday night to discuss a possible tribute to Killum.

UCLA Coach Jim Harrick, who first met Killum when he was a sophomore at Lynwood High, was shocked by the news.

“It’s just such a tragedy because he was a terrific kid and a very fine player,” Harrick said. “It’s such a tragedy to take a young kid’s life like that.

“We were going to go over to the hospital as a team, but he was in critical condition and we couldn’t get over to see him.”

Said USC guard Harold Miner, who played against Killum in high school and during summer league games: “He had so much ability and talent. He had such a bright future, and for something like this to happen, I was just shocked.

“I just wish his family the best because he was such a nice person and such a good guy. That’s the main thing. Forget basketball, he was just such a good person. And it just hurts me for something like this to happen.”

Killum guarded Miner during the second half of the Trojans’ 17-point victory over the Beavers last week. Miner, who had scored 30 points during the first half, was held to seven points during the second half by Killum.

“He did a good job of denying me the ball,” Miner said. “I respected him as a player.”

Bill Notley, who coached Killum at Lynwood High and retired from coaching after Killum graduated in 1990, said he was too emotionally drained to talk to reporters.

Killum, the 1990 Southern Section 5-AA Player of the Year, was a popular figure at Lynwood High, which retired his jersey number during a game Wednesday. It was the first jersey ever retired by the school.

After averaging 30.4 points as a junior, Killum averaged 30 points and 7.5 rebounds and five assists as a senior in leading Lynwood to the 5-AA championship game. Lynwood lost to Long Beach Poly, 60-58.

Juaquin Hawkins, who played alongside Killum at Lynwwood, said he had a premonition about Killum’s death.

“I was having a dream about him today when I was taking a nap, and then I woke up and saw he died on the TV, and I just broke down,” Hawkins said.

Hawkins, a freshman guard at Cal State Long Beach who was academically ineligible this season, said he plans to dedicate next season to Killum.

This is the second tragedy to befall a former Lynwood High athlete this month. Melvin Johnson, 21, a two-time All-Southern Section offensive lineman at Lynwood, was shot and killed in a domestic dispute on Jan. 2 in Fresno.