The Commercial Appeal

Brother of Memphis star Williams dies

- Jason Munz Memphis Commercial Appeal USA TODAY NETWORK – TENNESSEE

Memphis basketball star forward Deandre Williams' brother died early Sunday in Houston, Texas, according to his mother, Samantha Williams.

Orenthal James "Lil OJ" Turner Jr.'s cause of death has not yet been determined, according to Samantha, who added the family is expecting the official toxicology report to be filed Monday. Turner was 30 years old.

Samantha said Williams, who scored 13 points and had 13 rebounds in the final game of his collegiate career late Friday in a loss to FAU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, left Memphis on Monday morning to return to his hometown of Houston. Williams posted a studio portrait of himself, Turner and two other siblings when they were children on Instagram Monday morning accompanie­d by a broken heart emoji.

“He's really broken about it,” said Samatha. “Deandre is Deandre, and he definitely gets his strength from me.

But, he's just coping. He just wants to be close to his family so we can spend some time with each other and love on each other.”

Turner was raised by Samantha from the time he was 5 years old. Even when she and Turner and Williams' father (Orenthal Turner Sr.) divorced "eight or nine years ago," Samantha said Turner remained a member of her household.

Williams is preparing for the Portsmouth Invitation­al, which is set to begin April 12. The Portsmouth Invitation­al is a week-long tournament that gives 64 of college basketball's top seniors the chance to showcase their skills in front of NBA and internatio­nal scouts.

Williams became a career 1,000point scorer this season. He also earned first-team all-aac honors and was named to the AAC'S all-tournament team after leading the Tigers to its first conference championsh­ip since 2013. The last win of his collegiate career came against his hometown team, thenno. 1 Houston. It was the first time in program history that Memphis defeated the top-ranked team in the country.

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