Michael John Whitmarsh (May 18, 1962 – February 17, 2009) was an American male

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. He won the silver medal in the men's inaugural beach volleyball tournament at the 1996 Summer Olympics, partnering with

Mike Dodd Michael Dodd (born August 20, 1957) is an American retired professional beach volleyball player who attended San Diego State University. With his partner Mike Whitmarsh he won the silver medal in the men's inaugural beach volleyball tourname ...

. Throughout his volleyball career, Whitmarsh earned over $1.6 million as well as 28 tournament wins. Whitmarsh played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

San Diego Toreros The San Diego Toreros are the 17 teams representing the University of San Diego of San Diego, California in intercollegiate athletics. The Toreros compete in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of the National Collegiate At ...

. He was a two-time all-conference player in the West Coast Athletic Conference (WCAC), known now as the West Coast Conference, and led San Diego to their first-ever conference title in 1984. He played professional basketball for three years in Europe before turning to volleyball.

Early life

Whitmarsh was born in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. He played basketball at Monte Vista High in Spring Valley, California and later

Grossmont College Grossmont College is a public community college in El Cajon, California. Its name originated with the silent film actor and producer William J. Gross, who was enticed by Ed Fletcher to invest the purchase of land, part of which was called Grossm ...

in El Cajon. He did not take academics seriously as a freshman at Grossmont. Whitmarsh did not think that he had a chance to get an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United Stat ...

until Toreros coach Jim Brovelli showed interest in him. Lacking the units to be admitted into the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a private Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California. Chartered in July 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University (comprising the College for Men and Sc ...

(USD), Whitmash committed himself to studying.

College career

The Whitmarsh played

at USD. He started all 24 games as a junior, averaging 15.3 points and 5.3

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

per game and earning all-conference honors in the WCAC. As a senior in 1983–84, he averaged 18.8 points and 7.3 rebounds and led the Toreros to an 18–10 record and the 1984 NCAA tournament. In the final game of the regular season against Saint Mary's, he had 24 points and six rebounds in a 68–59 win to clinch the Torreros' first-ever WCAC title. He was named All-WCAC again, and was runner-up to

John Stockton John Houston Stockton (born March 26, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player. Regarded as one of the greatest point guards, players and passers of all time, he spent his entire NBA career (1984–2003) with the Utah Jazz, ...

in the voting for the WCAC Player of the Year.

Professional career

Whitmarsh was drafted by the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United ...

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

in the fifth round in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast As ...

.1984 NBA draft
, ''basketballreference.com'' He also narrowly missed making the roster of the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

, and played professionally in Germany for three years before abandoning basketball in favor of beach volleyball. Transitioning from the indoor hard court to the soft sand of beach volleyball (which is often played under hot and humid conditions) was not easy, and he developed a reputation for cramping late in tournaments. His leg cramps were so bad that he often required an I.V. to rehydrate and equalize his chemical balance.

Death

Whitmarsh was in the midst of a divorce from his wife Cindy and was found dead in a friend's garage on Wednesday, February 17, 2009, leaving behind two young daughters. According to the

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the f ...

medical examiner, he died of

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

from inhalation of carbon monoxide from automobile exhaust.

Awards and honors

* AVP Rookie of the Year 1990 * AVP King of the Beach 2000 * AVP Best Blocker 2002 * AVP Lifetime Achievement 2004 * AVP Role Model Award 2003 * AVP Special Achievement 2003

References

External links

* *
College basketball stats
at Sports-Reference.com
Obituary
in the

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado-based Digital First Media. The offices of the ''D ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitmarsh, Mike 1962 births 2009 suicides American men's volleyball players Alba Berlin players American men's basketball players American men's beach volleyball players Beach volleyball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Grossmont College alumni Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic beach volleyball players of the United States Olympic medalists in beach volleyball Portland Trail Blazers draft picks San Diego Toreros men's basketball players Suicides by carbon monoxide poisoning Suicides in California Basketball players from San Diego Volleyball players from San Diego