Memphis basketball star DeAndre Williams' brother dies
Memphis basketball star forward DeAndre Williams' brother died early Sunday in Houston, Texas, according to his mother, Samantha Williams.
Orenthal James "Lil OJ" Turner Jr. died of natural causes, according to Samantha. Turner was 30 years old.
Samantha said Williams, who scored 13 points and had 13 rebounds in the final game of his collegiate career late Friday in a loss to FAU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, left Memphis on Monday morning to return to his hometown of Houston. Williams posted a studio portrait of himself, Turner and two other siblings when they were children on Instagram Monday morning accompanied by a broken heart emoji.
“He’s really broken about it,” said Samatha. “DeAndre is DeAndre, and he definitely gets his strength from me. But, he’s just coping. He just wants to be close to his family so we can spend some time with each other and love on each other.”
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Turner was raised by Samantha from the time he was 5 years old. Even when she and Turner and Williams' father (Orenthal Turner Sr.) divorced "eight or nine years ago," Samantha said Turner remained a member of her household.
Williams is preparing for the Portsmouth Invitational, which is set to begin April 12. The Portsmouth Invitational is a week-long tournament that gives 64 of college basketball’s top seniors the chance to showcase their skills in front of NBA and international scouts.
Williams became a career 1,000-point scorer this season. He also earned first-team all-AAC honors and was named to the AAC's all-tournament team after leading the Tigers to its first conference championship since 2013. The last win of his collegiate career came against his hometown team, then-No. 1 Houston. It was the first time in program history that Memphis defeated the top-ranked team in the country.
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball: DeAndre Williams' brother dies
