It’s no secret that Kentuckians are obsessed with basketball, it’s in our collective DNA, and so it only makes sense that the state has produced more than its share of hoop all-stars and today we’re looking at another legend of the hardwood in our sports legend of the Ville, Denny Crum era Cards stand-out DeJuan Wheat.
A graduate of Ballard, Wheat came to national attention after joining the University of Louisville in 1993. Having arguably his most successful basketball years with the Cards Wheat achieved an honor that no other Division I NCAA basketball player had achieved by scoring a college career 2,000 points, 450 assists, 300 three-pointers, and 200 steals. He steal holds second place in school history for points scored with 2,183.
After leading the Cards to an Elite 8 appearance his senior season Wheat was drafted in 1997 by the Los Angeles Lakers, but quickly was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he received little playing time, it wasn’t until Wheat made his way to Canada to play for the Vancouver Grizzlies (currently in Memphis) that his NBA career became substantial, but again despite playing in 46 games as a Grizzly, Wheat suffered from low playing time, averaging 4 and a half points a game with Vancouver.
Currently, the 37 year old Wheat plays for the former national champion Soles de Mexicali where he competes around the country. With his national and international stardom it’s easy to see why DeJuan Wheat is a sports legend of the Ville.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeJuan_Wheat
http://www.databasebasketball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=WheatDe01
http://plumbot.com/DeJuan_Wheat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soles_de_Mexicali
Image courtesy of the University of Louisville
