Mystery surrounds former Bloomingdale star's death

Josh Chapin knew the kid playing high school basketball for him was something special.

Theo Smalling had it all _ size, speed, strength and skill. And toughness to spare.

"He was one of the best I've had in my seven years as coach," said Chapin, who coached Smalling at Bloomingdale High from 2002 to 2006. "He was my first class. I had him for four years. He was my first Division I player. He's probably the toughest kid I ever coached."

The last time Chapin spoke to Smalling was Friday, when he called to wish him happy birthday. Smalling was looking forward to Hampton's game against the University of South Florida on Dec. 2 at the Sun Dome.

On Sunday, Chapin was talking to Smalling's mom on a much less festive occasion. Her son had been shot in the stomach in Virginia.

Theo Smalling, who loved basketball more than anything else, the kid who scored 1,239 points at Bloomingdale, who was the starting center at Hampton University in Virginia, died the next day. He was 22.

"It's a tragic accident to happen to such as a fine person," said Chapin, now an assistant principal at Brandon High School. "[Tampa] lost a great person; to see someone with so much potential go tragically is a great loss for not only this community, but also Virginia."

Police still don't know exactly what happened. They say Smallling was shot in the abdomen shortly after midnight Saturday in the parking lot of a nightclub after another man mishandled a firearm.

Police have charged 21-year-old Dominique Devon Smith with reckless handling of a firearm, a misdemeanor. Police are awaiting autopsy results.

"There is nothing to indicate that there was any animosity between the two," said Cpl. Paula Ensley, Hampton Police spokeswoman. "We do know that they were known to each other. He [Smith] is being cooperative."

Prosecutors in Hampton will have to determine whether to file manslaughter or murder charges in the accidental shooting, the Daily Press in Newport News, Va., reported. Police have so far treated the incident as an accident.

HU basketball coach Ed Joyner called Smalling's death a "devastating loss." Hampton President William R. Harvey described Smalling as a "model" student-athlete.

Smalling's family was at his bedside at Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News when he died. Funeral services are being planned.

The loss of Smalling was being felt in the Tampa Bay area.

Walter Perkins knew Smalling was going places.

After meeting a then 13-year-old Smalling while playing football for the Brandon Broncos, a youth football team, he told the rising star standing a foot above the rest that he had "a gift."

"He was a very driven young man. He was the kind of person who, if he didn't do it, it wasn't going to get done," Perkins said. "He didn't want to let me or his mother down."

The 6-foot-7 senior was respected by teammates and opponents.

"He was a fierce competitor. I always remembered how hard he played. I remember my junior year, coach always said to make sure we knew where he was on the court," said Shawn Vanzant, now a junior point guard at Butler University. "If I could compare him to a player, it would be Dennis Rodman, but 10 times more skilled. That was him. He was always going hard. He had a knack for being around the ball."

Jason Anthony, a 6-foot-4 power forward Jason Anthony who graduated from Armwood High School in 2007, was Smalling's teammate on the AAU Brandon Bolts and his arch rival in high school.

"We played on the same team since we were 12 years old. Every summer, we were together," said Anthony, who went on to play at St. Pete College. "He had a lot of games where he beat me. I couldn't get rebounds because he was too big (laughs)."

The two played in numerous AAU games together across the country, he said. He described Smalling as having a presence.

"When he came into the room, people would say, 'Oh, that's Theo'," he said. "He was a confident person."

Smalling was the whole package, said Adam Sollazzo, a 2008 graduate of Armwood and the Tampa Tribune 2007-2008 Hillsborough County Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

"He was a beast," said Sollazzo, now a sophomore point guard at East Tennessee State. "He was one of the best big men I've ever seen in Hillsborough County. He was big, strong and fast."

At Bloomingdale, Smalling ranks 101st on the Hillsborough County all-time scoring list.

Smalling, a sports management major, played in 30 games as a junior for Hampton, averaging 3.3 points and a team-leading 5.3 rebounds per game.