FORMER EJ STANDOUT ONCE WAS PART OF COLEGE CONTROVERSY

Former Indiana guard Neil Reed has died of cardiac arrest at the age of 36.

Reed's high school coach Jim Robarts confirmed that the former Indiana guard died Thursday in Nipomo, Calif., after suffering a massive heart attack on Wednesday.

The East Jefferson High School graduate in 1994 originally ended up in the New Orleans area when his father, longtime college assistant Terry Reed, joined the UNO coaching staff. The younger Reed had a stellar prep career for Robards and the Warriors.

Neil started 72 games for the Hoosiers under head coach Bobby Knight and averaged just under 10 points a game from 1994-97 with the Big Ten school. Reed claimed he was choked by Knight in a 1997 practice in a controversial incident and eventually transfered to Southern Miss - where his father was an assistant coach at the time - to finish his college career.

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Santa Maria, CA (Sports Network) - Neil Reed, the Indiana basketball player caught on tape being choked by head coach Bobby Knight in 1997, died on Thursday of a massive heart attack. He was 36.

The Santa Maria Times reported Reed, who coached boys basketball and both boys and girls golf at Pioneer Valley High School, passed away. The newspaper reports Reed had trouble breathing early in the morning and was taken to an area hospital where he went into cardiac arrest, but he could not be revived.

Reed claimed in 1997 that Knight choked him during a practice. Video of the practice surfaced three years later, and the Hall of Fame coach was put on a zero-tolerance policy by university president Dr. Myles Brand.

In September of 2000, an Indiana student accused Knight of grabbing his arm, and Knight was fired shortly thereafter.

After his altercation with Knight, Reed transferred to Southern Mississippi and played there for the 1998-99 season.

"The shock of the passing of Neil Reed and the sadness we feel for his wife, two daughters and entire family is overwhelming. Tragic news," current Indiana basketball coach Tom Crean said via Twitter. "Neil was building a career in coaching and had even sent me his coaching philosophy book a few years back to  proof. Pray for his family."