Kaila Chizer returned to the University of Houston in May after one season with the Arizona Wildcats.

 University of Houston

Kaila Chizer, who spent the 2021-22 season as a support-staffer under UA women's basketball coach Adia Barnes, died Tuesday. She was 26.

The Harris County Medical Examiner's Office said Chizer said died of natural causes due to "subarachnoid hemorrhage due to ruptured intracranial aneurysm," according to a report from Houston's KTRK-TV. The television station said Chizer's body was found inside her car outside a 24-Hour Fitness. She was pronounced dead at the scene, the station said.

Barnes tweeted Thursday: "My heart is literally broken! She will always be in our hearts!!"

Chizer attended the University of Houston, earning a bachelor's degree in education in 2018 and a master's in human resources development in 2020. Her mother, DeJuena Chizer, is Houston's senior associate athletic director for student-athlete development. 

Kaila Chizer joined Barnes' staff in August 2021 as an assistant coordinator. Chizer returned to her alma mater in May, when she was named the Cougars' director of basketball operations.

"It's awful, awful news to lose one of our children and somebody who has grown up here and means so much to us," Houston athletic director Chris Pezman said. "To lose someone so suddenly and so young is heartbreaking. … There aren't enough words to express our sorrow and how much we love them as they work through the grieving process."

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