One of the first things LSU women's basketball assistant coach Bob Starkey thought of was Hank Gathers. A week ago Monday night, Glen Oaks star junior point guard Shannon Veal collapsed during a playoff game at her school and died later that night of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition that involves an enlarged heart. Starkey was at the game recruiting Veal, one of the top players in Louisiana who was being recruited nationally. "We were there to evaluate Shannon," Starkey said. "It was my first game seeing her. We knew how good she was. All our players knew her. She came to our games and to our camps." After making a free throw for her 11th point to give two-time defending 4A state champion Glen Oaks a 35-21 lead against Helen Cox (Harvey) with 1:34 to go in the first half, the 5-8 Veal motioned to come out of the game. Seconds later, she collapsed near the three-point line while playing defense.

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