Wisconsin freshman Chucky Hepburn is mourning the shooting death of a 'brother' as he returns home to Nebraska

LINCOLN, Nebraska – Chucky Hepburn’s life changed early Monday morning.

Shortly after midnight, Wisconsin’s freshman point guard got word that a dear friend, an unofficial member of the family, a brother not through blood but through years of laughter and tears, had been shot outside a sports bar back home in Omaha.

Less than four hours later, Vincent Burns died while undergoing surgery.

He was 20.

“At times, there’s not words,” UW coach Greg Gard said when asked how Hepburn was handling the loss. “He knows he has got a lot of support here, people that are ready to help him.”

Hepburn will need that support for the remainder of the season, starting Thursday when UW (15-3, 6-2 Big Ten) faces Nebraska (6-13, 0-8) at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

“We’re just trying to push through it,” Greg Hepburn, Chucky’s father, said by phone Tuesday.

Greg Hepburn, a youth basketball coach and mental health counselor, was responsible for bringing Burns into the family more than six years ago.

Trey Hepburn, now 20, was in seventh grade and Chucky Hepburn, now 18, was in sixth grade when they joined forces with Burns on the basketball court.

“We just forged a really good relationship and bond,” Greg Hepburn said. “I was serving like a mentor role to him. That was something he hadn’t had with other coaches, which is why his mom brought him to play with us.”

With his father living in Illinois, Burns was looking for a male confidant, a role model.

“Then he and his mom talked,” Greg Hepburn said, “and he told her he wanted me to be his godfather. He ended up asking me and then I talked with (my) family and made sure the boys were OK with it. They didn’t have any issues and he became my godson and their bother.

“We treated him as though he were family.”

Burns, Chucky Hepburn and Trey Hepburn were brothers on and off the court.

“He was more confident and brash,” Greg Hepburn explained. “He brought that out of Chucky and Trey.

“They brought a little more structure and discipline, so it was a good balance.”

That balance, the bonds built over years, were broken early Monday.

Chucky Hepburn arrived at the Kohl Center on Monday running on little to no sleep and could barely function. Gard told him to turn around and go to bed. He wouldn’t be expected to practice considering all he had been through.

“He hadn’t slept,” Gard said. “He was crying."

UW's players took Hepburn out to dinner Monday night.

“They were able to support him and provide that energy that he needs to pick himself up,” Greg Hepburn said.

Chucky Hepburn returned to practice Tuesday and understandably was excused from talking to reporters.

“He is better,” Gard said.

According to Gard, Hepburn is scheduled to stay in Omaha so he can attend Burns’ funeral Friday. He will then return to Madison so he can prepare for UW’s game Sunday against visiting Minnesota.

No one knows how the freshman will perform Thursday at Nebraska. That game, originally scheduled to be played Tuesday but pushed back two days because of COVID-19 issues within the Nebraska program, was supposed to be a joyous homecoming.

It appears now that at best it will offer Hepburn a mix of raw emotions. He should be surrounded by family and friends and supportive teammates and coaches.

Yet Burns won’t be there.

“They had a strong bond, all three of them,” Greg Hepburn said, referring to his two sons and Burns. “I think that was really the first loss that he has (suffered). He has known other people who have lost their lives but that is the first one that hit home for him.

“He has a lot on his plate (emotionally) but the thing about Chucky is that he internalizes and processes everything. He has this really broad perspective and knows how to break things down into simplicity.

“And understanding the situation can’t change. Understanding the feelings and emotions he is experiencing and that they will subside.

“He still has objectives and goals that he wants to reach. And I think that incorporating this situation into those objectives and those goals are going to help drive him and give him that motivation to continue to push forward and be even better and stronger than what he was originally.

“That is the mindset that he has.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin's Chucky Hepburn mourning loss of 'brother' in Nebraska