AURORA — The Regis Jesuit High School community is reeling — news of former point guard R.J. Demps’ death early Wednesday has
the boys basketball team, students, faculty and alumni in mourning.
Demps would have been 21 today.
“It’s very difficult,” Raiders basketball coach Ken Shaw said Thursday. “He was a great kid.”
A sophomore reserve at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., Demps was killed in a one-car accident near Weston, Mo., while heading to Kansas City International Airport to fly home to Colorado for Christmas. He was a passenger in a vehicle with teammate Quaran Johnson, who was bound for Philadelphia and escaped with minor injuries.
“This is a devastating and tragic day,” Benedictine College coach Ryan Moody said in a news release. “R.J. was a great teammate. He brought energy and a great attitude and smile to the locker room every day.”
A vital cog in the Raiders’ run during the 2008-09 season to their first of three consecutive Class 5A titles, the 5-foot-9, 178-pound Demps, an all-stater by The Denver Post, was viewed as an engine who could push the ball, score, set up teammates and keep everyone loose.
“You never think something like this would happen,” former Raiders teammate Damian Mencini said. “The kid just loved life. Every time you talked to him, he was so happy.”
As a reserve for the Ravens, Demps saw action in five games this season, but Moody said his presence reached further than numbers.
“He had an impact on his coaches, his teammates and the entire Benedictine College community,” Moody said.
Shaw, who had switched to Regis Jesuit from Smoky Hill with Demps in tow, said: “He was a special kid to me. I guess God needed a point guard in heaven.”
The cause of the accident is under investigation. Police have indicated that slick roads may have contributed to it.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
