Players Mourn A Teammate

STORRS - As a crowd of more than 150 dwindled to about a dozen outside the UConn Student Union Monday evening, Kashif Moore stood by himself, shaking his head.

The sophomore wide receiver was looking at pictures of his slain teammate, Jasper Howard, displayed on a poster board propped on the Hillside Road sidewalk, lit by flickering candles.

Pictures: Candlelight Vigil for Jasper Howard on UConn Campus

"It was right here, man," Moore said. "I held him in my arms as long as I could. I didn't want to let him go. They wouldn't let me go in the ambulance with him. It was right here. I can't believe he's gone."

Howard, bleeding from a wound to the abdomen, had been stabbed in an altercation outside the Student Union early Sunday morning. Just hours later, Howard died at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford. He was 20.

Share your condolences for Jasper Howard

On Monday, Moore decided that the team needed to share its grieving with the students on campus. He worked with senior punter and team captain Desi Cullen to hastily arrange the 7:30 p.m. memorial service in the spot where Howard was stabbed by an individual who remains at large.

"I just wanted to put this together for everybody else on campus," Moore said. "Jazz touched a lot of people's hearts outside of football. I just wanted to be able to share this with the rest of the university."

Pictures: Jasper Howard's Career At UConn

Earlier Monday, UConn coach Randy Edsall had said on the weekly Big East coaches conference call that two players had been close to Howard immediately after he was stabbed.

"At least two of our guys, when this took place, one had Jasper in his arms and the other was pressuring where the wound went in and had blood on his hands," Edsall said. "Those two young men I know are pretty deeply affected right now. If they don't feel like mentally they're ready to play [this week], then that's their decision."

Edsall did not reveal that Moore was the player holding Howard. And Moore did not say whether he was prepared to play Saturday at West Virginia

The evening started with a 6:45 p.m. prayer meeting at the Burton Family Football Complex, led by Cullen. The team then met with Howard's parents, Joangila Howard and Alex Moore.

"They just told us how good of a person he was and how much he would want us to go out there and win the rest of these games," Kashif Moore said.

Howard's parents then led the team down Stadium Road past Gampel Pavilion and then down Hillside Road to the site of Howard's stabbing, just outside the entrance to the Student Union.

After visiting the makeshift memorial, Howard's parents were escorted back to the Burton complex by Edsall as students began to congregate with players around the candles and photos.

Cullen then led the team and students in prayer, preaching loudly, breaking down in tears at times.

Numerous players began breaking down in various areas around the Student Union.

Freshman defensive end Jesse Joseph was the first to break from the group, running toward the Student Union with Cullen quickly following to console him, followed by five more players. The quiet of the area was broken by the loud sobs of Joseph, 50 feet from the memorial.

Around them, players began finding quiet areas to console one another away from the group, some loudly calling out Howard's name.