Darryl Oumi/Getty Images LSU basketball player Wayde Sims died at the age of 20 on Friday due to injuries suffered in a shooting. Per Danae Leake of New Orleans' Fox 8, Baton Rouge police confirmed Sims died after being transported to a hospital following a shooting near Southern University in Louisiana. Leake noted the shooting occurred around 12:25 a.m. local time Friday morning. Detectives are treating the death as a homicide. "Wayde Sims' loss is simply unbelievable to us right now," LSU vice chancellor and director of athletics Joe Alleva said in a statement. "There are no words that can express our sorrow for his parents and family. He was such a lovable young man who was full of joy. We are circling around his teammates and friends who need all the love and support we can give them. We are praying for his family, for his parents. God bless Wayde Sims." Head coach Will Wade added: "We are all devastated. We need your prayers for Wayde, for his family, for all of us. We are heartbroken." Sims was getting ready to start his junior year at LSU. The Louisiana native appeared in 63 games for the Tigers over the past two seasons. He averaged six points and 3.3 rebounds per game.<doc-sep>“Obviously early this morning, you got the call you never wanna get as a head coach,” LSU Coach Will Wade said during a Friday news conference. “We rushed down to the hospital and they let us know of the news on Wayde. From there, our obvious concern was with family and ... his parents. We spent the majority of the morning with them.”<doc-sep>Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.<doc-sep>LSU basketball player Wayde Sims was just hours from taking the court for the Tigers’ first official practice of his junior year when he was fatally shot during a fight miles away from campus. [Update, 9 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 29: An arrest has been made.] Friday was the day LSU basketball coach Will Wade had hoped would kickstart a season in his signature high-intensity style, but it took a tragic turn before any player took the court. The 20-year-old Baton Rouge native, who had so often embodied the energy Wade wanted from all his players, would never again get to sport his No. 44 jersey or hear the roar of a packed Pete Maravich Assembly Center. He would never again force a laugh from his teammates in the midst of a grueling workout. Can't see video below? Click here. “Everybody on the team loved him,” Wade said Friday morning at a press conference. “He was the team jokester, the team prankster. He always had a smile and was bopping around. He got us going in practice." Wade canceled Friday’s practice. Instead, the university provided grief counselors to Sims’ teammates and friends. “We’re not going to worry about basketball right now,” Wade said. “We've got a lot of bigger issues than basketball. Everybody grieves differently. … We started the process this morning and we’re going to continue it for as long as we need to.” Early Friday morning, outside a fraternity party just off Southern University’s campus, an argument quickly turned to a fistfight, and just after midnight one gunshot rang out, Baton Rouge police spokesman Sgt. L’Jean McKneely said. Sims fell. Everyone ran. Sims later died at a hospital, McKneely said. An autopsy Friday determined Sims died of a gunshot to the head that traveled into his neck, said East Baton Rouge Coroner Dr. Beau Clark. [RELATED: Video of fight before Wayde Sims' shooting death released; police ask for help with IDs] Police responded to the shooting about 12:30 a.m. near a Subway restaurant in the 600 block of Harding Boulevard, about a block from Southern's A.W. Mumford Stadium. At least two bystanders caught the encounter on video, and while both shared the footage with police, no one had been arrested or taken into custody as of Friday evening. Baton Rouge Police released to the public one of the videos that captured the fight leading up to the shooting – hoping someone can identify individuals involved in his death. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The video shows about eight men in the street fighting, at one point with three or four of them throwing punches, until two men break from the group. Then a shot is fired. McKneely said investigators are specifically trying to identify and locate the individual who is seen toward the end of the video wearing red pants with a white stripe down the leg and a gray shirt — one of the two men separated from the group right before the shot. McKneely identified the other man separated from the group as Sims. [RELATED: Killing of 'unbelievable' Wayde Sims a coach's 'worst nightmare,' LSU's Will Wade says] While McKneely said police are not yet considering the man with the white striped red pants a suspect in the slaying, he is considered a person of interest. "At the time (Sims) fell, he was fighting this guy," McKneely said. "We don't want to speculate, ... but that guy was in close proximity to him. Everybody else ran, except — from what we see — him. Everybody else was startled, took off running, (but) he didn't seem so surprised, that's why we're taking special interest in him." McKneely said they also want to identify the other men at the fight for questioning. He said the investigation into the shooting continues. Two days earlier, Sims had joked with an Advocate sports reporter about his new haircut – toning down his look from last year – and shared his excitement for the upcoming season. Wade had recently called him on 104.5 FM ESPN's "Off the Bench" one of the most improved players coming off the summer, and Sims was he was ready to take on a new shooting guard spot, instead of scrapping through games as a small forward. “I like to play where the team needs me,” Sims had said. “I try to do the best I can to help the team win.” Can't see video below? Click here. A former standout at University High, Sims was entering his third season at LSU. A 6-foot-6 forward, he averaged 5.6 points and 2.6 rebounds per game this past season with 10 starts in 32 games. Sims was majoring in sports administration. Sims was the 2014-15 Louisiana Gatorade player of the year at U-High, where he led the Cubs to three straight state titles from 2014-16. Wayde Sims' father, Wayne, also played forward on the LSU basketball team from 1987-91 under coach Dale Brown. +9 Nov. 2015: Wayde Sims following path of father, Wayne Sims, to play basketball at LSU Father and son customarily play one-on-one. Wayne Sims needs the ball first — his conditioning isn’t as pristine as when he teamed with Stanle… “It is an absolute tragedy when a young life gets cut off so senselessly,” said LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva said. “I’ve been (in athletics) for over 40 years, and this may be the saddest day that I’ve ever experienced in my career.” LSU President F. King Alexander said he knew Wayde Sims personally and was stunned by the news. "To say we are grief-stricken is an understatement" Alexander wrote in a statement Friday morning. "Wayde was a beloved member of the LSU community whose leadership was treasured by his coach and his teammates. ... The void left by his passing will be immense, and we ask that you keep his family in your prayers.” In the daylight of Friday morning, little remained from the shooting hours earlier. Some police tape hung from a nearby tree, local media lingered the parking lot.<doc-sep>
LSU basketball player Wayde Sims was killed in a shooting Friday morning near Southern’s campus, according to The Advocate. Citing the Baton Rouge police, The Advocate reported that Sims was shot at 12:25 a.m. at a Subway restaurant at 668 Harding Boulevard. He was then taken to a local hospital, where he died from a gunshot wound. The Subway was right across the street from Southern's A.W. Mumford stadium. LSU head coach Will Wade released a statement early Friday morning. “We are all devastated," Wade wrote. "We need your prayers for Wayde, for his family, for all of us. We are heartbroken.” Sims was entering his junior season at LSU after starting 10 games a year ago. averaging 5.6 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. The Advocate reported that multiple former players, including Aaron Epps and Brandon Sampson, “confirmed Sims’ identity on social media." A thick 6-foot-6 forward who starred for nearby University High, Sims came to LSU as the No. 43 small forward and No. 222 overall player the 247Sports Composite after helping U-High to three state championships. This summer, Sims transformed his body in offseason conditioning, according to Wade. “Wayde Sims has improved tremendously. He’s improved his body, his shot. Skylar and Wayde really jump off," Wade said on Monday. "Daryl has worked really hard. He’s been a little banged up lately because he’s almost worked too hard. It’s not a big deal. He’s able to practice. I think all those guys have worked really hard. "But when you see Mays and Sims and see how their bodies have changed – Coach Goldin, my strength coach, has done a tremendous job. Those kids have done a tremendous job. We just lay the path. They have to drive the car. Those guys have done a really, really good job.” This summer, LSU coach Will Wade cited Sims as an important piece of this year's team as one of several returning players with experience. WBRZ-TV reported that LSU will release a statement on Sims' death later Friday. Sims told reporters that he was excited to be a part of a team that had this much talent and worked hard to improve on the court as he was transitioning from the 4-man spot to the 3-man spot in LSU's system. "Our expectations are set pretty high this year with the type of guys that we have," Sims explained earlier this week. "We've got a lot of talent and a lot of good players on our team this year. I feel like we're going to surprise a lot of people this year. I like to play where the team needs me. I like to do what I can to help the team win." Sims was an LSU legacy, with his dad playing for Dale Brown from 1987-91. 247Sports will continue to update this story as more details come in.