Friends deal with suicide of Chaparral star athlete

Spencer Patterson

Tuesday, April 18, 2000 | 10:44 a.m.

While most area students reveled in the start of their spring break Monday, Chaparral High School dealt with a shocking tragedy -- the loss of star athlete Mario Hagan.

The 17-year-old Hagan, a senior football and basketball player, died Sunday in his Las Vegas home. The death was ruled a suicide this morning by the Clark County coroner's office.

"It has devastated the whole Chaparral community," said principal Robert A. Chesto Jr., who met with his coaching staff Monday morning. "We grieved and held each other. It was pretty solemn."

The Sun's 1999 State Offensive Player of the Year in football, Hagan signed a letter of intent for a full scholarship with the University of California-Berkeley in January. He was expected to play receiver for the Golden Bears.

"It's very sad," Cowboys football coach Ben Johnson said. "He had everything ahead of him."

According to his father, Herman, Mario Hagan hanged himself around 4:30 p.m. on Sunday. His body was discovered by his mother, Judith, who then called Herman, who was out of town at the time. No suicide note was found.

"I had talked to him a half hour earlier on the phone and he sounded fine," Herman Hagan said. "He had a scholarship to Cal -- the strongest public school in the country. This came completely out of nowhere."

Herman Hagan said his son had a 3.1 grade-point average and had scored an 1160 on the SAT -- well within the NCAA's guidelines for academic elgibility.

"He was a great kid, doing well in school. He always appeared so confident," Herman Hagan said. "We tried to teach him he was as good or better than everyone else and he was most of the time."

A three-year performer on Chaparral's varsity football team, Hagan earned all-conference honors as a wide receiver as a junior. Last fall, the 6-3, 195-pounder took over as the team's featured running back and wound up leading the state with 1,645 yards and 17 touchdowns on 161 carries.

Hagan also spent three seasons on the Cowboys' varsity basketball squad, developing into a consistent force in the paint. As a senior, he averaged 17 points and nine rebounds and earned honorable mention inclusion on the Sun's All-State team.

But more than his athletic abilities, those who knew Hagan well remembered him for his confident, positive demeanor.

"He was a very happy, carefree kind of person," Johnson said. "He liked to joke around a lot, have his fun. It seemed like nothing bothered him that much. So this is absolutely shocking."

Agreed Chaparral basketball coach Paul Berg, "He was always so upbeat. He was always a guy that was laughing and pretty easygoing. He was competitive during the game situations, but he seemed pretty lighthearted. I still feel like I'm in shock."

Chaparral football teammate John Ream, a UCLA signee, said he spoke with Hagan on Thursday -- a conversation about the UCLA-Cal battles to come.

"The last time I saw him it was the same old Mario cracking jokes," Ream said. "We were talking about how we'd see each other in the Pac-10 next year. I've known him for four years, and this kid loved life more than anybody I know. It's a total shock for me to think of him even thinking about doing it, not to mention actually doing it."

Hagan is survived by his parents, his sister, Sabrina Finks, and his nephews, Jordan and Lester Finks. Memorial services are pending.

Chesto said the school will provide grief counseling when classes resume next Monday.

"We'll go into a crisis counseling mode on Monday, so kids can express their emotions," Chesto said. "Our counseling staff is great -- they know what to do."

Nevada has the highest suicide rate in the nation, and suicide is the sixth leading cause of death in the Silver State.

According to Dorothy Bryant, director of the Suicide Prevention Center of Clark County, pinpointing what pushes a teenager into taking his or her life is never easy.

"Significant losses, problems in a relationship, depression, school problems and peer pressure are all some of the factors," said Bryant, who was not talking specifically about Hagan. "Teens today are under a lot pressure. They are just learning how to do things on their own and become emancipated from their parents, and that's a tough thing to do."

Hagan is the second noteworthy Chaparral athlete to die in the last year. Baseball player Matt Hansen was killed in a car accident in June during the Cowboys' American Legion baseball season.

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