Per family, former Louisville basketball star Clifford Rozier dies

Former University of Louisville basketball star Clifford Rozier died Friday after suffering a heart attack in his hometown of Bradenton, Fla., his brother confirmed to the Courier Journal.

Rozier was 45.

"He was an All-American at Louisville," Kobie Rozier said in a telephone interview. "Those were the best years of his life. He always said he liked his time in Louisville more than the NBA."

Rozier was a consensus first-team All-American for Denny Crum's 1993-94 Cardinals, averaging 18.1 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. He began his professional career as a first-round draft choice of the Golden State Warriors and later played for the Toronto Raptors and Minnesota Timberwolves during a four-year NBA career.

Kobie Rozier told TMZ that his brother went into cardiac arrest two days ago.

The 6-foot-11 Rozier, a McDonald's All-American in high school, transferred to Louisville from North Carolina. He averaged a double-double in both of his seasons at U of L, scoring 15.7 points per game and grabbing 10.9 rebounds per game in 1992-93 and then improving on those numbers prior to entering the draft as a junior.

He was named a first-team All-American by the Associated Press, United Press International, the United States Basketball Writers Association and ESPN Radio. Selected 16th overall by the Warriors, he played in 173 NBA games, averaging 4.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. According to basketball-reference.com, he earned more than $3.5 million in salary.

As his basketball career ended, Rozier dealt with rough times, mental health problems and drug abuse, as documented in 2010 by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

"He had gotten himself clean," Kobie Rozier said. "But he didn't do much. He kind of stayed to himself a lot."

Anthony Shelman, a former Louisville running back and Rozier's college roommate, said he spoke to Rozier last year.

"He told me he was content where his life was," Shelman wrote in a Facebook message.

Shelman described Rozier as confident with a "gentle heart." The two liked to play pickup basketball together.

"I remember it like it was yesterday," Shelman said. "He wanted me to be more aggressive and kept saying, 'Come on, Shel,' and on the next outlet pass from him, I dunked on two guys. Football was my specialty but he had an ability to get the most out of you!"

Funeral arrangements were incomplete as of Friday afternoon.

Jeff Greer contributed to this report.