Kentucky football mourns defensive lineman Nic Smith, 20, found dead on campus

A university campus, meant to be a place of becoming, became instead a place of mourning when Nic Smith — a 20-year-old football player and student at the University of Kentucky — was found dead in his residence hall on a Monday in June. He was known to his teammates as 'Happy,' a name that now carries its own quiet weight. Authorities found no sign of foul play, and the full circumstances await the coroner's determination, but the facts of cause matter less, in this moment, than the fact of absence — a young man whose story was still being written.