Jerrod Mustaf, former Maryland star and Knicks first-round pick, dies at 55

Jerrod Mustaf, a former All-ACC big man at Maryland and the No. 17 overall draft pick of the New York Knicks, died Monday at the age of 55. He played four NBA seasons in total, one for the Knicks and three for the Suns, but his career was derailed when he was characterized by police as “an investigative lead” in the murder of Althea Hayes, who was pregnant with a child she believed was Mustaf’s at the time of her death. He would go on to play another seven years abroad before retiring.

Mustaf was a top recruit from renowned high school power DeMatha Catholic in the late 1980s and ultimately elected to play collegiately at nearby Maryland. In two seasons for the Terrapins, he averaged 16.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game on a roster that featured five future NBA players. 

He declared for the NBA Draft in 1990 and was selected by a Knicks team seeking depth behind star big men Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley. A year later, though, the Knicks decided to seek veteran help for their front line and dealt Mustaf to Phoenix as part of a deal that landed former All-Star Xavier McDaniel. Things didn’t get any better with the Suns, though, as Mustaf would never match the 13.3 minutes per game he played in his lone season in New York. He did not play a single postseason minute in 1994, which would be his final NBA season.

Soon after, Hayes was killed. Mustaf was never formally charged in the case, but his cousin, Lavonnie Woten, was eventually convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison. K.C. Scull, the Phoenix prosecutor assigned to the Hayes case, would later lament that he could not take Mustaf to trial. He told Sports Illustrated that “it’s one of my biggest regrets that I wasn’t allowed to try this case.”

Mustaf never played in the NBA again after the Hayes murder. In that same Sports Illustrated story, he called it “totally unfair,” and added that he believes he was “blackballed.” He was invited to training camps by the Seattle Supersonics and Charlotte Hornets, but was waived on both occasions. After his NBA career ended, he played in Greece, Spain, France and Poland.

After his playing career ended, he founded the Street Basketball Association. But after it folded, he devoted himself to running Take Charge, a program his father founded designed to help keep teenagers in the Washington D.C. area out of the criminal justice system. Founded in 1990, the organization continues its work in the community to this day.