IOWA TRIES TO COPE WITH LOSS OF PLAYER

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, January 21, 1993                   TAG: 9301210174
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C7   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: IOWA CITY, IOWA                                LENGTH: Medium
IOWA TRIES TO COPE WITH LOSS OF PLAYER
Iowa basketball players and coaches struggled with feelings of grief and shock Wednesday as they mourned the death of forward Chris Street.
Players huddled with coach Tom Davis to try to cope with the loss of the 6-foot-8 junior, regarded as the heart of the 14th-ranked Hawkeyes.
Street, the team's top rebounder and third-leading scorer, died in a traffic accident Tuesday night.
"I cannot begin to describe the deep feelings of Chris Street's teammates and coaches. We all loved him and we all will miss him very much," Davis said. "Chris represented all that is good about the Midwest and the state of Iowa. He was caring, honest, loving and lived life to the fullest every day."
The university and a tournament in Puerto Rico in which Iowa played this year said awards would be named after Street.
Street, 20, died when his car was struck by a snow plow, then by another car. Kimberly Vinton, Street's girlfriend, also was in the car but managed to crawl from the wreckage. She was in stable condition at University Hospitals and Clinics.
The accident happened after Street and Vinton, also 20, had left a team meal at a restaurant on the northeast edge of Iowa City. Street was returning to campus for a night class.
Iowa athletic officials, deluged with sympathetic telephone calls from across the nation, postponed Wednesday night's Big Ten game with Northwestern and Saturday's game at Penn State.
The university has established a memorial fund in Street's name and announced that beginning with this season's banquet, the basketball team will present an award to a player who "exemplifies the spirit, enthusiasm and intensity of Chris Street."
"We want to remember everything Chris Street represented," Davis said. "He was one of the greatest Hawkeyes of all time."
Organizers of the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico said the tournament will name its most valuable player award after Street. Street was voted the MVP of the 1992 tournament last month after leading Iowa to the tournament championship.
Street averaged 14.5 points and 9.5 rebounds a game.
Keywords:
FATALITY

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB