Former Moon Valley basketball coach John Boie wasn’t surprised that David Glasser, one of his former players, became a police officer.

The Phoenix Police Department announced that Glasser died Thursday after being shot while responding to a burglary call Wednesday. Glasser, 35, played basketball at Moon Valley, where he graduated from in 2000 and stood out because of his work ethic on the basketball court and classroom.

He was a role player on two very successful teams, first as a substitute his junior season and then a starting forward his senior year. Both teams finished 22-6.

Glasser was a sophomore when Moon Valley won a Class 4A title in 1998.

“It’s so hard because you have so many emotions at this point,” Boie said. “It never surprised me that he became a police office, because you can see him going into those type of situations. You knew he would go into that kind of occupation and help people and become a public servant.”

Glasser, a 6-feet-3 forward at Moon Valley, was also usually out-hustling taller post players for a rebound.

“David was very quiet, but he was incredibly tenacious,” said Jim Barnett, the public address announcer for Moon Valley’s basketball games during Glasser’s playing days. 

Glasser also was a die-hard fan of the Arizona Cardinals.

So much so that he became a founding member of the Birdgang fan club of the Cardinals and travelled to away games, said Barnnett, the public address announcer for the Cardinals and the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s big school championship games.

Glasser served 12 years with the Phoenix Police Department. He was married and had two young children.

“He was really a special kid,” Boie said. “He was a solid hard-working-lunch-pail type of kid. We have to be thankful for what we have and that we had him. He was a role model.”