Screengrab via WAFB Ed Waters pictured in March 2019 while attending one of his son's games at Louisiana State University.
Ed Waters, the father of Boston Celtics prospect Tremont Waters, was found dead in a hotel in West Haven, Connecticut, on July 11.
Tremont Waters was raised in West Haven, Connecticut, where he played for Notre Dame High School. Tremont would go on to play college basketball at Louisiana State University. In June 2019, Tremont was selected as the 51st pick in the second round of 2019 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics. Tremont has signed a two-year contract with the team.
In 2014, the New Haven Independent referred to Ed Waters as his son’s “agent, coach, protector, and guide.” Waters, who worked in air conditioning and heating, is survived by his wife, Vanessa, a nurse, and their six children.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Tremont Waters’ Dad’s Cause of Death Is Unknown at This Point
WTNH’s Mario Boone was the first to report Waters had passed away. Boone said that the “circumstances of his death unclear at this time.” Waters was found dead in a Super8 hotel by Wyndham in West Haven, along Kimberly Avenue. WCVB reports that Waters’ death is being treated as “untimely” and that an investigation is underway.
Local police were called to the Super8 at around noon on July after police received reports of a sick or injured guest.
2. When His Son Faced Threats From Gangs in High School, Waters Told the Police & Put Tremont in a Different School
In December 2011, Ed Waters told Connecticut’s Westport Patch that his son had been threatened and told he had to join a gang at the age of . Ed said that he filed a police report and told the school’s principal upon hearing of the thread. Ed told Patch, “Tremont didn’t handle it at first. Tremont started missing school, Tremont wasn’t sleeping. I didn’t want his grades to fall because Tremont was making honors every marking period. I just didn’t want my son in the hallways with those kids.”
That saw Tremont switch schools where he decided to concentrate on playing basketball. Ed said of his son in 2011, “He doesn’t hang out much after school. He’s either playing basketball or studying. His schedule is pretty intense.” Ed Waters told the Undefeated that their son transferred to Green Farms Academy which required Tremont getting a train alone at 6 a.m. every morning. Waters said that he and his wife, neither of whom attended college, struggled to pay the school’s tuition despite the scholarship covering most of the $33,000 required.
3. Ed Waters’ Athletic Career Was Cut Short Due to a Freak Injury
Waters told LSU’s sports magazine, Tiger Rag, in December 2017 that his high school football career had been cut short after he suffered two broken ankles at once. Waters said that two linemen fell on his legs during practice on a wet day. Waters told the magazine that he was raised without a father and had adopted his coaches as fatherlike figures.
Waters said that after his injury, he “didn’t have the discipline” to come back and he walked away from football. Waters said he used that regret to motivate his son saying, “I didn’t have the discipline for myself. Living with that regret allowed me to always be there for Tremont. I know how easy it can all be over.”
4. Ed Waters Said He ‘Always’ Taught His Son to Be a Great Young Man
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Ed Waters spoke about trying to keep his son away from criminality in a 2013 interview with the New Haven Register. Waters spoke about his love of sports and his belief that basketball was teaching his son leadership.
Waters went on to say that his ultimate dream was for his son to get a college degree and to be “able to feed himself, his loved ones, his kids later on in life.” He added that despite a love for the game, for Tremont it was “all about what type of young man he’s going to be, what type of husband, what type of father, a leader in his own community.”
During the college recruitment process for his son, Waters told Game Time CT that he met with Kentucky coach John Calipari three times. That article did not mention Louisiana as a possible destination for Tremont with “Duke, Kentucky, Indiana, UConn, Georgetown, Kansas and Yale” mentioned as the contenders. Ultimately, Tremont committed to LSU.
5. Ed Waters was a Huge Fan of Allen Iverson
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Waters and his wife and son were known as Team Waters. The trio maintained a basketball training service known as Tre-Day Training. On the company’s official website, the story is told that “Ed became a diligent student of the game and developed creative drills to improve Tremont’s skills. This father and son team grew stronger together.”
The website bio also speaks about Vanessa’s role in her son’s development saying, “Vanessa is the heart and soul of the family, always there, quietly guiding her two men on and off the court.” The website has not been updated for quite a while as the final lines of the bio say that Tremont Waters is declaring for Georgetown University. Tremont previously told the Undefeated that he had planned to enroll at Georgetown due to his father’s love of Allen Iverson, who had played at the school. Tremont told the website, “My dad was a huge fan, so I just had to be a huge fan.”
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