Basketball jersey number 32 will be retired in honor of Zeke Upshaw, a 2009 U-High graduate who died March 26. This will be the first-ever jersey to be retired.

Mr. Upshaw had played for the boys basketball team all four years of high school. As a junior, Zeke was named Most Valuable Player of the Independent School League.

He went on to play at Illinois State University and Hofstra University. Eventually he played in the G-League, the NBA’s minor league organization.

On March 24 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Mr. Upshaw collapsed on the court in the final minute of a game and was hospitalized. Two days later, he died of sudden cardiac death, according to the medical examiner.

A ceremony to put the jsersey number up in the rafters of Upper Kovler will take place next fall.

“It’s important for the impact he made on the entire school and the basketball program here at U-High,” Athletic Director David Ribbens said. “He was a quality student-athlete and certainly one of the finest athletes in our school’s history. His success warrants the kind of respect and honor that comes with retiring our first-ever jersey.”