Report: Former USM basketball player shot to death

According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, former Southern Miss basketball star Jonathan Mills was shot to death in the city Monday.

The paper reports Mills was shot multiple times less than a mile from his high school, North Lawndale.

Mills, 26, was pronounced dead on the scene, according to the report.

Mills’ high school basketball coach Lewis Thorpe told the Chicago Tribune that Mills had planned to practice at the school Monday. He said it had become a ritual of Mills’ as he trained to play basketball overseas.

Thorpe was at the school when his nephew called to say Mills had been shot.

Thorpe said he raced to the scene, where he saw Mills’ body, covered by a blanket, lying against a fence surrounding a store parking lot. He said he could tell Mills was dressed in his basketball shorts and shoes, ready to practice.

“My heart just dropped,” he told the Chicago Tribune.

Thorpe, who knew Mills dating back to his middle school days, called the Southern Miss star a “phenomenal” player and “the best rebounder to ever come out of Chicago public school basketball.”

Mills helped lead the 2012-13 USM team to 27 wins, averaging 9.3 points and 8.0 rebounds. He averaged 9.5 and 6.1 the year before.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported Mills leaves behind two daughters.

This story was originally published July 25, 2016 at 6:11 PM with the headline "Report: Former USM basketball player shot to death."