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Brooks Thompson, who served as a player and assistant at Oklahoma State before a 10-year career as a Division-I head coach, died on Thursday. He was 45.

Thompson was diagnosed with double organ failure in April and had been hospitalized for much of the past two months. He was able to return home briefly in May, but was admitted back into the hospital with a blood infection, according to an update from his wife, Michelle, that was shared on Facebook by Oklahoma State senior athletic director for development Larry Reece. Thompson was still in the hospital this week.

Sean Sutton, who was both a teammate and coworker of Thompson’s at Oklahoma State, confirmed the news. He said in a phone interview Thursday night he considered Thompson to be like a brother.

“(He) certainly was a great husband and dad to Michelle and his three wonderful little girls,” Sutton said. “He was highly popular among Oklahoma State fans and just a really nice, great guy. Obviously I’m going to miss him a lot and so are a lot of other people.”

Thompson was born in Dallas in July 19, 1970. He attended high school in Colorado and began his college career at Texas A&M, but became a beloved member of the community in Stillwater when he transferred to OSU in 1991.