Brayden Smith, the last standout “Jeopardy!” champion of Alex Trebek’s era, has died at the age of 24, several news outlets have reported.
Smith, who achieved a five-game winning streak and more than $115,000 in winnings as Trebek’s era came to a close, died unexpectedly last Friday in his hometown of Las Vegas.
A cause of death has not been disclosed.
Smith’s “Jeopardy!” appearances aired in December and were taped before Trebek died on Nov. 8 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Trebek took a liking to the mild-mannered Smith, dubbing him “Billy Buzzsaw,” for his ability to cut through the competition.
Hailed on social media as “Alex’s Last Great Champion,” Smith was looking forward to competing in the show’s next Tournament of Champions, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
“We are heartbroken to share that our dear Brayden Smith recently passed away unexpectedly,” his mother, Deborah, wrote on Twitter. “We are so grateful that Brayden was able to live out his dream on @jeopardy.”
Smith’s run on the popular game show was so impressive that fans compared him to James Holzhauer because he had a knack for landing on Daily Doubles and laying huge wagers when he did.
Smith had just graduated from University of Nevada, Las Vegas last year with a degree in economics and had hoped to attend law school and become a U.S. Attorney.
The “Jeopardy!” Twitter account quoted Deborah Smith’s message, and added, “The JEOPARDY! family is heartbroken by the tragic loss of Brayden Smith. He was kind, funny and absolutely brilliant. Our deepest condolences go out to Brayden’s family. He will be missed.”
Among the contestants who ran up against Smith was San Jose’s Teja Chemudupati, who respectfully called Smith a “monster” for his encyclopedic knowledge of trivia and expert handling of the buzzer.
“I’ve chatted briefly online with him and I’m rooting for him to go as far as he can go,” Chemudupati said in a January interview. “Alex valued champions who could make deep runs. He would have liked to see someone like Brayden do well. If I had to lose to anyone, it might as well have been the guy Alex called ‘Billy Buzzsaw.’”