AMHERST, Mass. (AP) – Mark Haymore, who played on Indiana’s 1976 NCAA championship team before transferring to Massachusetts where he became a star player, has died. He was 48.

Haymore, who had a history of heart problems, was found dead in his Amherst apartment on Sunday, police said. He was supposed to visit a friend out of town, and when he did not show up the friend called police, who made a well-being check, Lt. Scott Livingstone said.

The 6-foot-8 Haymore had apparently been dead a few days. The death is not considered suspicious, Livingstone said.

Haymore was part of a freshman class at Indiana that included Larry Bird. While Bird left soon after enrolling, Haymore lasted two years and played on Bobby Knight’s Indiana team that defeated Michigan 86-68 in the 1976 national championship game. A reserve, he scored two points and had a rebound in the title game.

He transferred to UMass where he played for Jack Leaman and averaged 15.6 points per game in two seasons, and led the Minutemen with 17.1 points and 10 rebounds per game in 1978-79.

He was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 5th round of the 1978 NBA draft and by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 8th round of the 1979 draft, and played professionally overseas.

Haymore owned his own painting company and in recent years had been an assistant coach at Amherst College and Amherst-Pelham Regional High School. He also coached girls junior high level teams at The Bement School, a private school in Deerfield.

Amherst coach Dave Hixon became good friends with Haymore in the two years they worked together.

“He was of the old school,” Hixon said. “He was a pleasure to have as an assistant because he was always there 15 minutes early for practice, eager to get going. He was very generous. One year he took out all the classes of kids for dinner so he could get to know them better.”

Haymore had recently been hired to coach the San Jose Spiders, a women’s minor league professional team, Hixon said.

Haymore had a daughter and a granddaughter, Hixon said.

AP-ES-11-29-04 2242EST