Father of Tremont Waters found dead in suicide at West Haven hotel

Edward Waters, father of Tremont Waters, a senior point guard at Notre Dame High School, on Wednesday, October 19, 2016, at the Farnam House at 162 Fillmore Street in New Haven where Tremont Waters grew up playing basketball. (Catherine Avalone/New Haven Register) less Edward Waters, father of Tremont Waters, a senior point guard at Notre Dame High School, on Wednesday, October 19, 2016, at the Farnam House at 162 Fillmore Street in New Haven where Tremont Waters grew up ... more Photo: Catherine Avalone Photo: Catherine Avalone Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close Father of Tremont Waters found dead in suicide at West Haven hotel 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

WEST HAVEN — The father of Tremont Waters, a standout basketball player from Notre Dame High School recently drafted by the Boston Celtics, was found dead Thursday of an apparent suicide at a Kimberly Avenue hotel, police said.

Edward Waters Jr.’s death was confirmed to be a suicide, the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Friday.

Police said they found Waters unresponsive after they received a call about an injured person at the Super 8 Hotel around noon on Thursday.

Police said the West Haven Fire Department paramedics pronounced Waters dead.

Waters Jr.’s son Tremont Waters was just drafted by the Boston Celtics on June 20 with the 51st pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. He signed a two-way contract with the team this week.

Waters is playing for the Celtics summer league team in Las Vegas. He played for the Celtics in Thursday night's 113-87 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, scoring eight points and adding nine assists. He is averaging 10.0 points, 5.3 assists and 2.0 steals in four games.

Earlier this year, Tremont Waters led the LSU Tigers to the SEC regular-season title, earned first team All-SEC honors and was named the co-Defensive Player of the Year with Kentucky’s Ashton Hagans. The then-sophomore also hit a clutch last-second layup to push the Tigers into the NCAA Tournament’s Regional Semifinal, where they later lost to Michigan State.

His parents, who called themselves Team Waters, worked hard to keep their son grounded as a youth. His father once had his son to watch “Broke,” an ESPN “30-for-30” documentary detailing the many former pro athletes who wound up with huge financial problems, at least once a month.

“I always taught him how to be a great young man. What I love about sports, basketball teaches him leadership, how to lead by example, and how to be responsible for other people. I just want him to one day get a degree from college and be able to feed himself, his loved ones, his kids later on in life. We love basketball, but it’s all about what type of young man he’s going to be, what type of husband, what type of father, a leader in his own community,” Edward Waters told the New Haven Register in 2013.

Waters played his senior season at Notre Dame-West Haven and was selected as both the GameTimeCT/New Haven Register state player of the year and Gatorade Connecticut Player of the Year in 2017. Previously, he attended and played basketball for the South Kent School and at Greens Farms Academy in Westport.

“Notre Dame learned of the passing of Edward Waters, father of Tremont Waters ‘17, this morning,” Notre Dame Athletic Director and boys basketball coach Jason Shea said. “We pass on our sincere condolences to Tremont and the entire Waters family during this difficult time.”

“My heart goes out to Tremont and his family,” Shea said. “The ND community certainly has Ed and his family in our prayers.”

Yale men’s basketball coach James Jones recruited Tremont to come to the New Haven school. Yale was among his “final six” schools before he chose Georgetown. He then changed his mind and went to LSU. Jones said he had “about 50” conversations with Ed Waters during the recruitment process.

“He was an extremely dedicated father who put his son and family before himself. It’s a sad situation. You look at a lot of people who did what he did in believing in his son, and he really got him to where he is, to great heights,” Jones said. “Obviously, Tremont deserves a lot of the credit for that. But I don’t think Tremont gets to where he is now without his father.”

David Borges contributed to this story