Shown in 2007, then-Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan died early Tuesday at age 37. Brennan, who had public struggles with alcohol, bypassed the NFL draft to play his senior year for Hawaii coach June Jones, then led the Warriors to their finest season, going 12-0 in the regular season. Ronen Zilberman/Associated Press

HONOLULU — Colt Brennan, a star quarterback at the University of Hawaii who finished third in the 2007 Heisman Trophy balloting, died early Tuesday, his father said. He was 37.

Brennan, who has had public struggles with alcohol, died at a hospital in California, his father, Terry Brennan, told The Associated Press.

“He just spent one too many times on the dark side of life, and it caught up with him,” Terry Brennan said of his son.

Brennan transferred to Hawaii after stints at Colorado and Saddleback College in California. A certain pro prospect, he bypassed the NFL draft in order to play his senior year for Hawaii Coach June Jones.

Brennan led the Warriors to their finest season ever, going 12-0 in the regular season. Georgia ended Hawaii’s hopes for an unblemished record, defeating the Warriors 41-10 in the Sugar Bowl. He returned, in part, to pay back to a school and a coach that gave him a second chance, and he had no regrets.

“Hawaii has inspired me to do a lot of great things,” he told The Associated Press in 2007.

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Brennan was drafted by Washington in the sixth round of the NFL draft in 2008, but he never played a regular season game in two seasons.

He was arrested in November at his Big Island home after banging on a housemate’s door with a chair. When he entered the room, he fell on the roommate, causing both to fall to the floor. Brennan was arrested for disorderly conduct, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported.

It was the second time in fourth months he had been arrested, In August, he was taken into custody for trespassing at the Kona Seaside Hotel after allegedly causing a disturbance and refusing to leave. In both incidents, police described Brennan as being heavily intoxicated, the Big Island newspaper reported. The charge was later dismissed.

In December 2019, he was arrested on Oahu for driving under the influence without insurance and leaving the scene of an accident. Four years before that, he was charged with filing a false report that his vehicle was stolen, the newspaper reported. That case was also later dismissed. He also pleaded no contest to DUI in 2013 for a traffic stop on Oahu a year earlier.

In 2010, he was a passenger in an SUV that was involved in a head-on crash. He suffered head, rib and collarbone injuries.

Brennan, who used a cane and wore a leg brace, went to California a few months ago for rehab for his injuries, including blood clots in his legs, his father said.

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Brennan had been living at an addiction treatment center in Costa Mesa, California. His father said he took him to a hospital emergency room on Sunday because his son had been drinking. “I could tell he was not well and needed help,” Terry Brennan said.

But the detox facility was full, so without his family realizing it, Colt Brennan was released. He was unconscious when he was taken back to the hospital, where he later died, his father said.

“They released him out on the street and either he made a call or he got Uber or something,” Terry Brennan said. “And now this is what we’re dealing with.”

He was surrounded by family members when he died.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

STANFORD: Guard Anna Wilson is returning to the university for a sixth season to help the Cardinal try to defend their national championship, while Alyssa Jerome is staying for a fifth year.

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Wilson, the Pac-12 Conference co-Defensive Player of the Year who moved into the starting lineup last season, and Jerome made their announcements together to The Associated Press on Monday night. The Cardinal lost guard Kiana Williams, drafted by the WNBA’s Seattle Storm with the sixth pick of the second round and 18th overall.

“It’s just a really awesome opportunity to have,” said Wilson, the younger sister of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.

The 5-foot-9 Wilson emerged as a lock-down defender while moving into the starting lineup with a stellar training camp. A key reserve forward, the 6-foot-3 Jerome averaged 1.5 points and 1.3 rebounds in 7.2 minutes per game.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic canceling college sports seasons last year, seniors were given the chance to have an extra year of eligibility.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

MINNESOTA: Parker Fox, a 6-foot-8 forward and a native of Minnesota, became the latest transfer to join the revamped Gophers.

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Fox played three seasons at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota, and was selected this year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches as a Division II All-American. Fox averaged 22.3 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.5 blocks and 1.7 steals per game and shot 64.4% from the field as a junior for the Wolves.

Fox is the fifth incoming transfer secured by new coach Ben Johnson, joining forward Jamison Battle (George Washington) and guards Luke Loewe (William & Mary), E.J. Stephens (Lafayette) and Sean Sutherlin (New Hampshire).

BASEBALL

NEVADA: Nevada’s Tyler Bosetti has homered in nine consecutive games, breaking an NCAA Division I record that stood for 30 years.

Bosetti homered to right-center field in his first at-bat Tuesday against Arizona State. It was the 11th homer in 10 games for the senior third baseman.

Georgia Tech’s Andy Bruce homered in eight straight games in 1991 and Duke’s Ryan Jackson matched the feat three years later.

Bosetti, a native of Vacaville, California, began his streak in the second game of a doubleheader at Air Force on April 24.

His power surge was somewhat unexpected. Bosetti had five homers total in his first three seasons.

He finished 4 for 5 and drove in three runs on Tuesday as Nevada lost to Arizona State 14-11.


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