A standout Indian basketball player notified jail guards in Montana of medical concerns two days before he was finally taken to a hospital, another inmate told The Great Falls Tribune.

A.J. LongSoldier, 18, complained of feeling nauseous on Friday, according to Don Farrar. '"He said he wasn't feeling well, that he was losing color, that he couldn't hold anything down," Farrar, who knew LongSoldier, told the paper.

It wasn't until late Sunday that LongSoldier was taken to a hospital, where he died the next morning. The state has launched an investigation, though foul play has been ruled out, and the autopsy ruled the cause of death to be natural.

As a freshman, LongSoldier led Hays-Lodgepole High School, on the Fort Belknap Reservation, to a third place finish in the state championships. The next year, he led the team to win the title.

LongSoldier transferred to another school on the reservation in his junior year but didn't play. He graduated this past May and was a freshman at Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas. He had returned to Montana to attend the funeral of his grandfather, Joseph Bear.

LongSoldier's mother, Dayna Bear, is a community health representative for the Fort Belknap Tribe. His father, Allen LongSoldier Sr., is a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.

Get the Story:
Probe continues in LongSoldier's death (The Great Falls Tribune 11/25)
Haskell freshman dies in Montana jail (The Lawrence Journal-World 11/24)

Related Stories:
Investigation into death of Native basketball player (11/24)