Former Butler Basketball Player Joel Cornette Dies at Age 35

Former Butler forward Joel Cornette died Tuesday morning. He was 35. 

Phil Friend of the Indianapolis Star reported Cornette's death was confirmed by the Cook County coroner's office in Illinois. The official cause of death is not yet known.

Brian Hamilton of Sports Illustrated passed along a statement from Butler:

Cornette was a member of the Bulldogs' basketball team from 1999 through 2003. He averaged 8.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks across 128 career games.

Butler went 100-28 during Cornette's tenure with the program, including three appearances in the NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs reached the Sweet 16 during his senior campaign, which marked their deepest tourney run until reaching the title game in 2009-10.

Rich Nye of WTHR provided some of the lasting impressions from the talented big man:

Cornette was working as an NBPA-certified player-agent with Priority Sports and Entertainment. His official profile noted he was the company's director of basketball recruiting with a focus on "player evaluations, free-agent contract analysis and skill development."

RealGM (via the Indianapolis Star) listed Houston Rockets forward Sam Dekker and Portland Trail Blazers center Mason Plumlee among his clients.

It's the second loss for the Butler basketball family in recent months. Former Bulldogs center Andrew Smith died in January due to cancer. He was 25.