In a 40-minute memorial, Florida Atlantic basketball coach Kevin Billerman, teammate Gary Durrant and others took turns remembering “the big, lovable teddy bear” with the infectious smile.
Eleven days after freshman basketball player Walter Turner, 18, of Miami, collapsed during stretching exercises and died, more than 500 athletes, coaches, family and friends gathered at the Live Oak Pavilion Wednesday to pay tribute.
Framed on an easel were Turner’s No. 34 jersey and picture. An overhead projector beamed a more casual picture of Turner, his 6-foot-8, 230-pound frame leaning against a wall with that ever-present smile.
Former basketball standout Bjorn Sjolund played the organ before the service and performed a musical tribute.
Cedric Peoples, another basketball alumnus, wrote a 17-line poetic tribute, which he read. Peoples said the basketball team lost a family member.
“He was a giant of a man,” said FAU President Anthony James Catanese. “Eighteen-year-old men don’t die like this. We must live with it and deal with it. We will keep Walter always in our memory.”
Durrant, one of three teammates who shared an on-campus student apartment with Turner, called him “a larger-than-life figure” who became an inspiration for everyone. He rubbed off on all of us, and that smile will always be in our heads.”
“This has been a tragic and trying time,” Billerman said. “His mother said that Walter died doing what he wanted to be doing, playing Division I college basketball. Walter would have made FAU very proud.”
The memorial came four days after he was buried Saturday in Miami. Sports Information Director Katrina McCormack said the on-campus memorial was held primarily for students, athletes, and coaches “to feel some kind of closure.”
Said Billerman: “That winning smile reflected the warmth of being something special. He will be missed.”
A preliminary autopsy by the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office failed to find a cause of death. A toxicology report has yet to be released.
