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Stephen Gant, 19; High School Baseball Player Commits Suicide (Was Expected to be Top MLB Draft Pick)
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Bill Schenley
Apr 5, 2012, 2:21:15 AM4/5/12
to
Vanderbilt baseball signee Stephen Gant found dead
Photo: http://tinyurl.com/7xgoq89
FROM: The Jackson (TN) Sun ~
By Brandon Shields
DECATURVILLE
Riverside High School senior Stephen Gant was found dead Tuesday
afternoon on Godwin Road in Perry County from an apparent self-
inflicted gunshot wound.
Perry County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Nick Weems said he and
Deputy Mike Dover were dispatched on a 911 call about 12:30 p.m. in
regards to a man walking down Godwin Road with a gun and threatening
suicide.
“We found the body of Stephen Gant about 30 feet from the roadway with
a gunshot wound,” Weems said. “We do believe at this time that it was
self-inflicted; however, we will continue to investigate to look at
other possibilities to make sure it was suicide.”
Weems said Gant’s body was found in front of a gate near a wooded
area, and his truck was found on the other side of the road parked in
a driveway and still running, about 100 feet from his body.
Gant was a senior baseball player at Riverside and was a Vanderbilt
baseball signee. He was named The Jackson Sun’s Baseball Player of the
Year the past three seasons.
The Panthers’ game at District 15-A rival Scotts Hill on Tuesday
afternoon was postponed along with the rest of the team’s games this
week. Head coach Dusty Rhodes declined to comment, and other players
on the Panthers’ roster were not available for comment.
“We haven’t really discussed how to come back after this. How do you
come back from something like this?” said Riverside assistant baseball
coach and head football coach Joel Goff. “He was a great kid to have
on your team and in the classroom.”
Goff also teaches history and government and had Gant in class during
his sophomore and senior years.
“He was an excellent student, always making As,” Goff said. “He was a
good teammate.
“My son, Jordan, is a freshman on the team. And he was at our house
working with Jordan a few days ago.”
Goff said everyone associated with the school and the community were
still in shock.
“I came over (to the school’s football field) to cut grass, and I was
still asking myself, ‘This didn’t happen did it?’” Goff said. “It’s
just hard when you can’t explain what happened.”
Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said he was shocked.
“This stops you right in your tracks,” Corbin said. “These are life
occurrences that can’t be explained — there are no ‘do-overs.’ We are
all deeply saddened for (his parents) Gloria, Tony, his brothers and
sister as well as the many friends that Stephen had.
“All we can do is be supportive for the family and be there for them.”
Vanderbilt had a moment of silence to remember Gant before the
Commodores’ game with UT Martin on Tuesday night.
---
Photo: http://tinyurl.com/86mxkyy
---
Passing leaves void for Panthers
Team, town suffering from loss of Stephen Gant
FROM: The Jackson (TN) Sun ~
By Brandon Shields
DECATURVILLE
Riverside High School’s baseball field had a different look about it
Tuesday evening.
It didn’t have the look of anticipation of the arrival of the Panthers
back from the short road trip to Scotts Hill that was on the schedule
for the day.
It certainly didn’t have the look of gameday when fans fill the hill
that holds the stands with the smell of grilled hamburgers and hot
dogs in the air.
There weren’t vehicles lined up on Hwy. 69 of Panther fans watching
the game from the other side of the outfield wall.
The fieldhouse was empty of players but filled with memories of
successes of recent seasons: State championships in the past two years
and a runner-up finish in Class A in 2009.
Each player’s locker had a Panther blue yard chair with other gear
tucked into it, including No. 29 Stephen Gant’s.
Otherwise, the facilities were empty. And it seemed something was
missing as a dark gray cloud moved over the school and the communities
of Decaturville and Parsons.
The area is dealing with another tragedy after Gant was found in Perry
County with what sherrif officers determined so far as a self-
inflicted gun shot wound.
Panthers coach Dusty Rhodes and other players on the team declined to
comment so soon after Gant’s passing.
They were set to gather back at the fieldhouse later that evening to
spend the night together as a team trying to figure out how to move on
from something like this.
“We’re going to probably spend a lot of time the next few days trying
to figure out how we move on, because right now it’s hard to see how
we do,” said Joel Goff, who is the school’s football coach and helps
coach the baseball team. “This team is a close group, and Stephen was
a big part of them.”
On the field, Gant was a competitor who went out each game with the
intent of recording 21 strikeouts in a perfect game. There were plenty
of days when he came close to it.
He was named The Sun’s Player of the Year the past three years and was
probably on his way to garnering a fourth award. He was also the top
prospect in the state.
But for as talented as he was on the field, one could never tell it
from him off the field. When the Panthers won their second straight
Class A title in Murfreesboro last year, Gant appeared to be among the
most excited among the group despite having been through it before.
When he officially signed his national letter of intent to play for
Vanderbilt in November, Rhodes had to do most of the talking for him
because finding words seemed to be difficult for him at times.
But for all the talent Gant had, there’s not a single person in
Decatur County that’s worried about a championship right now.
“Things like this have a way of putting things back into perspective,”
Goff said. “We’ve got bigger things to worry about than wins or losses
or home runs or anything like that.”
A look at Gant’s Facebook page will show many proclamations of sadness
and remembrances about Gant for on and off the field — some from
fellow athletes, fellow students, friends, families or just people who
didn’t know Gant that well if at all.
“He was a great kid, and it’s so tragic to lose him,” Goff said. “This
is going to be hard for us all.”
Photo: http://tinyurl.com/7xgoq89
FROM: The Jackson (TN) Sun ~
By Brandon Shields
DECATURVILLE
Riverside High School senior Stephen Gant was found dead Tuesday
afternoon on Godwin Road in Perry County from an apparent self-
inflicted gunshot wound.
Perry County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Nick Weems said he and
Deputy Mike Dover were dispatched on a 911 call about 12:30 p.m. in
regards to a man walking down Godwin Road with a gun and threatening
suicide.
“We found the body of Stephen Gant about 30 feet from the roadway with
a gunshot wound,” Weems said. “We do believe at this time that it was
self-inflicted; however, we will continue to investigate to look at
other possibilities to make sure it was suicide.”
Weems said Gant’s body was found in front of a gate near a wooded
area, and his truck was found on the other side of the road parked in
a driveway and still running, about 100 feet from his body.
Gant was a senior baseball player at Riverside and was a Vanderbilt
baseball signee. He was named The Jackson Sun’s Baseball Player of the
Year the past three seasons.
The Panthers’ game at District 15-A rival Scotts Hill on Tuesday
afternoon was postponed along with the rest of the team’s games this
week. Head coach Dusty Rhodes declined to comment, and other players
on the Panthers’ roster were not available for comment.
“We haven’t really discussed how to come back after this. How do you
come back from something like this?” said Riverside assistant baseball
coach and head football coach Joel Goff. “He was a great kid to have
on your team and in the classroom.”
Goff also teaches history and government and had Gant in class during
his sophomore and senior years.
“He was an excellent student, always making As,” Goff said. “He was a
good teammate.
“My son, Jordan, is a freshman on the team. And he was at our house
working with Jordan a few days ago.”
Goff said everyone associated with the school and the community were
still in shock.
“I came over (to the school’s football field) to cut grass, and I was
still asking myself, ‘This didn’t happen did it?’” Goff said. “It’s
just hard when you can’t explain what happened.”
Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said he was shocked.
“This stops you right in your tracks,” Corbin said. “These are life
occurrences that can’t be explained — there are no ‘do-overs.’ We are
all deeply saddened for (his parents) Gloria, Tony, his brothers and
sister as well as the many friends that Stephen had.
“All we can do is be supportive for the family and be there for them.”
Vanderbilt had a moment of silence to remember Gant before the
Commodores’ game with UT Martin on Tuesday night.
---
Photo: http://tinyurl.com/86mxkyy
---
Passing leaves void for Panthers
Team, town suffering from loss of Stephen Gant
FROM: The Jackson (TN) Sun ~
By Brandon Shields
DECATURVILLE
Riverside High School’s baseball field had a different look about it
Tuesday evening.
It didn’t have the look of anticipation of the arrival of the Panthers
back from the short road trip to Scotts Hill that was on the schedule
for the day.
It certainly didn’t have the look of gameday when fans fill the hill
that holds the stands with the smell of grilled hamburgers and hot
dogs in the air.
There weren’t vehicles lined up on Hwy. 69 of Panther fans watching
the game from the other side of the outfield wall.
The fieldhouse was empty of players but filled with memories of
successes of recent seasons: State championships in the past two years
and a runner-up finish in Class A in 2009.
Each player’s locker had a Panther blue yard chair with other gear
tucked into it, including No. 29 Stephen Gant’s.
Otherwise, the facilities were empty. And it seemed something was
missing as a dark gray cloud moved over the school and the communities
of Decaturville and Parsons.
The area is dealing with another tragedy after Gant was found in Perry
County with what sherrif officers determined so far as a self-
inflicted gun shot wound.
Panthers coach Dusty Rhodes and other players on the team declined to
comment so soon after Gant’s passing.
They were set to gather back at the fieldhouse later that evening to
spend the night together as a team trying to figure out how to move on
from something like this.
“We’re going to probably spend a lot of time the next few days trying
to figure out how we move on, because right now it’s hard to see how
we do,” said Joel Goff, who is the school’s football coach and helps
coach the baseball team. “This team is a close group, and Stephen was
a big part of them.”
On the field, Gant was a competitor who went out each game with the
intent of recording 21 strikeouts in a perfect game. There were plenty
of days when he came close to it.
He was named The Sun’s Player of the Year the past three years and was
probably on his way to garnering a fourth award. He was also the top
prospect in the state.
But for as talented as he was on the field, one could never tell it
from him off the field. When the Panthers won their second straight
Class A title in Murfreesboro last year, Gant appeared to be among the
most excited among the group despite having been through it before.
When he officially signed his national letter of intent to play for
Vanderbilt in November, Rhodes had to do most of the talking for him
because finding words seemed to be difficult for him at times.
But for all the talent Gant had, there’s not a single person in
Decatur County that’s worried about a championship right now.
“Things like this have a way of putting things back into perspective,”
Goff said. “We’ve got bigger things to worry about than wins or losses
or home runs or anything like that.”
A look at Gant’s Facebook page will show many proclamations of sadness
and remembrances about Gant for on and off the field — some from
fellow athletes, fellow students, friends, families or just people who
didn’t know Gant that well if at all.
“He was a great kid, and it’s so tragic to lose him,” Goff said. “This
is going to be hard for us all.”
Hyfler/Rosner
Apr 5, 2012, 7:35:24 AM4/5/12
to
> But for as talented as he was on the field, one could never tell it
> from him off the field.
Message has been deleted
Lanskee Shuru
Apr 5, 2012, 6:54:15 PM4/5/12
to
Tommy Joe
Apr 5, 2012, 11:40:50 PM4/5/12
to
On Apr 5, 2:21 am, Bill Schenley <b.schen...@gmail.com> wrote:
> “We’re going to probably spend a lot of time the next few days trying
> to figure out how we move on, because right now it’s hard to see how
> we do,”
Of course they're all in shock, Stevie threw them a curve ball.
> “We’re going to probably spend a lot of time the next few days trying
> to figure out how we move on, because right now it’s hard to see how
> we do,”
TJ
R H Draney
Apr 6, 2012, 12:33:45 AM4/6/12
to
Tommy Joe filted:
>
>On Apr 5, 2:21=A0am, Bill Schenley <b.schen...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>> =93We=92re going to probably spend a lot of time the next few days trying
>> to figure out how we move on, because right now it=92s hard to see how
>> we do,=94
--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.
>
>On Apr 5, 2:21=A0am, Bill Schenley <b.schen...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>> =93We=92re going to probably spend a lot of time the next few days trying
>> to figure out how we move on, because right now it=92s hard to see how
>> we do,=94
>
>
> Of course they're all in shock, Stevie threw them a curve ball.
In case anyone's confused, *this* is what is meant by "too soon"....r
>
> Of course they're all in shock, Stevie threw them a curve ball.
--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.
Bill Schenley
Apr 6, 2012, 1:04:07 AM4/6/12
to
> > Of course they're all in shock, Stevie threw them a curve ball.
>
> In case anyone's confused, *this* is what is meant by "too soon"....r
I read elsewhere that his younger brother also tried to kill himself a
>
> In case anyone's confused, *this* is what is meant by "too soon"....r
few months ago.
Tommy Joe
Apr 7, 2012, 1:00:56 AM4/7/12
to
On Apr 6, 1:04 am, Bill Schenley <b.schen...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I read elsewhere that his younger brother also tried to kill himself a
> few months ago.
Did his younger brother play baseball too? If so, he was
> I read elsewhere that his younger brother also tried to kill himself a
> few months ago.
probably a loser, because to try to kill yourself and fail is one of
the biggest failures of life. I hope when he played he didn't have
such an oh-well attitude. You go out there to win, not to try to
win. At least his brother did what he set out to do. I'll bet the
older brother was a better ball player too. You have to have that
stick-to-it attitude if you want to be a winner in life. I know
because I'm a loser and am able to see the big picture from the ground
floor up.
TJ
Kris Baker
Apr 7, 2012, 4:54:19 PM4/7/12
to
"Hyfler/Rosner" <rel...@rcn.com> wrote in message
news:jlk01s$a6b$1...@reader1.panix.com...
>
>> But for as talented as he was on the field, one could never tell it
>> from him off the field.
>
>
> Such prose.
I had to uncross my eyes, to understand your two words.
>> But for as talented as he was on the field, one could never tell it
>> from him off the field.
>
>
> Such prose.
Kris
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