Silex High School player dies after collapsing at practice

SILEX, Mo. -- A funeral is planned for Friday for a high school sophomore who collapsed and died at basketball practice this week in the eastern Missouri town of Silex.

David Jack "D.J." Chastain III, 15, collapsed and stopped breathing Monday night at Silex High School during the first practice of the basketball season.

He later died at a hospital in Troy.

The Lincoln County coroner's office has not released the cause of death. Authorities said they had no reason to believe drugs were involved.

Chastain played several sports, including baseball, basketball, skateboarding and swimming, according to his stepmother, Tonya Chastain.

Silex is a small town about 70 miles northwest of St. Louis. D.J. was the oldest of four siblings.

The team's coach began CPR immediately after D.J. collapsed, school officials said, and an ambulance arrived immediately.

On Tuesday, students at Silex High School signed a poster in the school's hallway to remember the youth.

-- The Associated Press