Carl Hulick nearly wept as he walked out of the UCLA locker room Monday morning. His eyes still red, he hugged one teammate for comfort. Several more patted him on the shoulder.
Physical comforts only helped so much. A few seconds later, Hulick gritted his teeth and slammed his own helmet. Death still haunted him.
Bruins receiver Nick Pasquale had been pronounced dead at 1:27 a.m. Sunday, struck by a vehicle in residential San Clemente. An investigation is ongoing, but there is currently no suspicion of drug or alcohol use. The driver called 9-1-1 and remained on scene. No arrests were made.
News filtered through the community quickly, spreading to players in their respective locations. With the bye, many had taken the rare weekend off the visit home. One heard the news after getting off his flight.
When head coach Jim Mora finally assembled a team meeting Sunday night, the room was silent.
“Everybody on that team, everybody in the locker room has a different relationship with Nick. Knew him in a different way,” Mora said Monday. “Whatever they were feeling was OK. Continue reading “Bruins reeling after death of beloved teammate Nick Pasquale” »