'He was a gentle giant'

LaRon Cephas, a former University of Maryland basketball player and acting program director for the Boys and Girls Club at Wiley H. Bates Heritage Park died suddenly yesterday. He was 29.

To University of Maryland basketball fans, he was the 6-foot-7 forward who played from 1997-2001, helping take the team to its first NCAA Final Four appearance in 2001. To the children of Annapolis he was "Mr. LaRon," the soft-spoken big man who helped run the basketball leagues at the Boys and Girls Club.

"The kids saw him as a gentle giant and he was that gentle giant," said Reggie Broddie, chief operating officer for the club. "He knew...