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A junior defensive back at Western Carolina has died after participating in a voluntary offseason workout.
Western Carolina spokesman Daniel Hooker says Ja'Quayvin Smalls ((pictured, thanks WSPA-TV)) collapsed Wednesday and was pronounced dead about 7:30 p.m. at Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva.
The school says he collapsed while running during an evening workout session. Observers said Smalls had complained of cramps at the beginning of sprint exercises and had been removed from the lineup to stretch.
The workout was the first for Smalls, who enrolled in Western Carolina's summer school. He had transferred from Georgia Military College, where he ranked second in tackles.
His parents, Henry and LaSonia Smalls survive him. His hometown was Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.
Smalls was a part of this year's signing class with the Catamounts, entering his junior year after transfering in from Georgia Military College.
It's the second time the family has been stricken with such a tragedy. Ja'Quayvin's cousin, Carl Smalls, Jr., was a UNC defensive tackle who also died in the offseason after his sophmore year when he was shot in the back outside of a club near Columbia, South Carolina.
Athletic director Chip Smith says Smalls' death was especially tragic, since he was so young.
Here is the entire release from Western Carolina
Workouts for Thursday and Friday have been cancelled, according to the University, and will resume next week.
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