The King

Over at From the Barn, the Iowa Hawkeye Preview mentions Chris Kingsbury a couple of times. It's unclear whether these comments are positive or negative, but I choose to take them as negative, because that's just the kind of guy I am. It spurred me to find out whatever happened to The King, as he was one of my favorite players - a clear sufferer of ASSWiPe Syndrome. Even though it was a mistake, it doesn't mean I can't look back fondly - much like that Mexican hooker.

There are a few articles about Kingsbury, but the most recent one I found is from The Omaha World-Herald. It turns out he is currently a vice president at a bank in a small Nebraska town, although he rips it up in the rec league (as seen above).

Kingsbury was a shooter, and had crazy range to go along with the crazy way he played. He would pretty much shoot from anywhere at anytime, including a 40 footer in a tie game against the Gophers with 30 seconds left which he airballed. He was also pretty much a dick, getting suspended four games over his career for unsportsmanlike conduct - as well as being cited for trespassing and public intoxication off the court.

He decided to leave after his junior, Rickert-like, and was undrafted. He hooked on with the Bullets - yes, Bullets - getting cut 3 months later, followed by the CBA, followed by Italy and then the IBL. He had an opportunity in Argentina but chose to stay home with his wife and give up the basketball dream. Which is kind of funny because they're divorced now, and you know she made him quit.

Naturally, Kingsbury doesn't take any of the blame for his fallen career, as this quote shows, "Could it have unfolded differently? I think I could have been supported by the university more, but they didn't take that approach. I can name 100 examples of guys that did things twice as bad as me where the university spoke out in favor of them. But hey, that's not their job, I guess." Classy.

Actually, I found his stats, and he wasn't even all that good. Averaged 8.1, 16.8, and 11.9 points per game in his three seasons, and did little else. Of his career 908 shot attempts, 645 of them were three pointers. That's an astonishing 71% of his attempts that were three pointers. To put that in prospective, Voshon Lenard, who drove me crazy by shooting three after three instead of driving, shot just 47% of his attempts from beyond the arc.

So, in retrospect, there's really zero reason I should have considered this guy a favorite. ASSWiPe Syndrome at it's worst. I'm lucky I finally broke free.

Evansville -2 vs. Indiana St (L)
Kentucky -12.5 vs. San Diego (L)
Alabama -12 vs. George Washington (W)
Eastern Washington +7.5 vs. UCSB
James Madison -11.5 vs. South Carolina State (L)
Texas -7.5 vs. Wisconsin (L)
Washington +5 @ LSU (W)
Tennessee +1.5 @ Gonzaga (W)
Memphis -9.5 vs. Arizona (W)
WVU -8.5 vs. Oklahoma (L)
Pitt -2.5 @ Dayton (L)
Cal -13.5 vs. NDSU (W)
CS-Fullerton +12.5 @ St. Marys (W)

and also i'm drunmk again. is it weird that's it's only 6pm
?


Yesterday: 6-1
Season: 157-129