What the Ha-yell?! US Basketball Player Murdered In Romania

What the Ha-Yell Reports:

BUCHAREST, Romania — In light of the ongoing NBA lockout, and franchise players, such as Kobe Byant, threatening to take their talents overseas, basketball starved fans have broadened their gaze to included the thriving European leagues.

Unfortunately, one of the  first stories to reach the states is one of violence and murder.

Romanian prosecutors have detained Ionut Adrian Tanasoaia for the slaying of American basketball player Chauncey Hardy.

Mediafax news agency reports that Tanasoaia beat Hardy to death Saturday night because he expressed interest in dancing with his girlfriend at a bar in Giurgiu — a southern Romanian city.

Hardy, 23, sustained massive head injuries and arrived at Bucharest hospital in a coma on Sunday. He died after undergoing emergency surgery.

Hardy played for CSS Giurgiu in Romania.

A former player at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, his former coach, David Bike, called Hardy’s death “a terrible tragedy”:

“This is not just about a basketball player, but the person as well,” Bike said in a statement. “It transcends what happens on a basketball court. We feel tremendous sadness and loss for Chauncey’s family and those who were close to him.”

“Sacred Heart’s athletic Director, C. Donald Cook, also shared his sadness over Hardy’s death:

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of a fine young man who had his life cut short at such a young age while he was overseas doing something he loved.”