RELATED: Khalid Hurst in Cal-Hi Sports photo gallery
The relatively quiet beachside community of Santa Barbara is in shock after a former football star was killed in a motorcycle accident on Saturday evening.
Khalid Hurst, 36, passed away after he lost control of the motorcycle he was driving while carrying a female passenger. Hurst’s passenger was wearing his helmet and suffered only minor injuries. Hurst was not wearing his helmet and suffered major head trauma, according to Santa Barbara police Sgt. Mike McGrew.
Hurst was a 1995 graduate of Santa Barbara High School and was an all-CIF Southern Section Division III running back in 1994. He attended the NorCal Cal-Hi Sports Rebook Preseason Combine (precursor to the Nike Fotball Training Camp) in the spring of 1994 at St. Mary’s College in Moraga. He measured in at 5-foot-9 and 150 pounds and ripped off a 4.57 40-yard dash and had a 28.5 inch vertical jump.
We first noticed Hurst as a junior when he filled in for first team all-stater Torlando Bolden in a game against Hueneme of Oxnard. He promptly rushed for 220 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries. Santa Barbara’s high school stars are well-known in the community, and combine that with Hurst’s outgoing personality, and it’s easy to see why many in this town of 90,000 are in mourning.
“We always knew he was going to be the next running back, he had played running back through Pop Warner all the way up,” said former Santa Barbara running back Ray Walker, who was two years older than Hurst and a year older than Bolden. “He played safety and corner for us in tenth grade, but out of us three, he was probably the most natural running back.
“He had friends all across the board. He did it all, things like off-road mountain biking, and related to a lot of different people in a small place.”
Hurst eventually played football at Santa Barbara City College and was the program’s best cornerback for the 1996 and 1997 seasons.
Not long after the word of Hurst’s death spread, a makeshift memorial was created at the scene of the accident and a Facebook Page remembering him was created.
Funeral services are pending.
3 Comments
Rest In Paradise #5
Love ya lido see ya in paradise
Cal-Hi Sports sends our condolences to all the Dons’ football alums and all the people in the Eastside Santa Barbara community that got to know him. Hurst was an excellent high school running back, an even better college corner and a loyal friend as we knew him.