Men's Basketball 8/27/2004 12:00:00 AM

Robert Garrett Passes

Nashville-Trevecca Nazarene University (TNU) student Robert Garrett II, 21, was killed in a car accident early in the morning of August 26 in Nashville, Tennessee. Rob, the son of Robert and Janice Garrett, was a member of the Trevecca men's basketball team.

The other driver in the accident, Jesse Carmack Gray, 41, of Smyrna, Tennessee, was also killed. *Update - Jesse Gray was the father of Sonny Gray (MLB Story) who would start his first football game at Smyrna the next day.

The Nashville Metro Police investigation shows that Gray, who was driving a pickup truck, ran a red light and struck Garrett's car.

Gray, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected from the truck. He was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. Garrett, who also was not wearing a seatbelt, was transported to Southern Hills Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Garrett planned to begin his senior season with the Trojans in the fall.

''Rob is one of those guys you enjoy watching come through Trevecca and watching him mature into a young man,'' Alan Smith, Trevecca Athletic Director, said. "Our last conversation was about making sure he was prepared to graduate this year."

In his three-year career as a Trojan, Garrett totaled 236 career points and 133 career rebounds. He also shot 53.7 percent from the field and 68.3 percent from the free throw line. His best year came during the 2003-04 season when he played in all 31 games for the Trojans as a forward. He started in 19 games that year, scoring 213 points and grabbing 101 rebounds on the season while averaging 24.3 minutes of playing time per game. Garrett also swiped 38 steals and dished out 57 assists that season.

According to the Nashville City Paper, TNU men's basketball coach Sam Harris saw Garrett in church every Sunday for the past two years. Harris also knew the rising senior was working two jobs this summer, practicing his jump shot four or five nights a week and on track to graduate.

For all of those reasons and many more, Harris and the rest of the Trevecca community were hit especially hard by the news of Garrett's death.

"We believe as Christians that God is a sovereign God," Harris told the Paper. "That's the only thing we can stand on, because it's really tough.

"Like his father [Robert Sr.] told me in the emergency room, we were just seeing the first fruits of his maturity."

Julian Terrell, a junior forward at Vanderbilt University, met Garrett through mutual acquaintances two years ago and formed a fast friendship. "He was an energetic guy and friendly with anybody," Terrell said. "He was really an open kind of guy."

TNU students are expected back to campus this weekend, so Harris hasn't had a chance to meet with the team as a group. In his 26 years of coaching, he has never lost a player this way.

"We lost a good person. We lost a good player," Harris said. "It's going to be a loss to our basketball team, but it's going to be a bigger loss to the university."

"The university family is saddened by the news of the death of Robert Garrett, one of its members,'' Trevecca President Millard Reed said. "Robert made it clear to those who knew him best that he had come to college in order to become better; to be the person that God intended that he would be. He will be missed at Trevecca."

In his high school days, Garrett attended Antioch High School where he earned All-Region and All-State honors in basketball and All-Region honors in track. Garrett also led his basketball team to Sectional and District Championships.

Time and location of funeral arrangements have not been announced.

-TNU, Nashville City Paper

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