Under the Radar Watch: Kyle Kuric

For every college athlete that garners mainstream media coverage, there are several who go about their daily routine without ever seeing their name in a feature story.  There are many players who stand out and make big impacts without ever being recognized.  Throughout this season, I will be picking out and profiling several of these underrated players for the benefit of basketball lovers everywhere.

Kyle Kuric - University of Lousville
6'4" Sophomore Guard #14

    Chances are, outside of Indiana, very few people have even heard of Kyle Kuric. As an Indiana high school star, he averaged 20.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game two seasons ago. He led his high school team, the Memorial High School Tigers, to a number one ranking in their division and to their first sectional championship in twelve campaigns. Although his team lost to eventual state champions Washington High School in the Regional championship game, Kuric's performance earned him Evansville Courier & Press All Metro Player of the Year and Second Team AP All-State honors.

    Kuric came to Louisville, choosing the Cardinals over Southern Illinois, Saint Louis and Michigan. As a freshman last year, he saw limited action under legendary coach Rick Pitino. His top performance as a rookie coming off the bench was a nine-point outing against Indiana State University. For Cardinals fans, he was just another face on the Louisville bench who saw 93 total minutes of action when games were out of reach for opposing teams. Last night that all changed...

    U of L faced Georgetown College (Not to be confused with Louisville's Big East rival, Georgetown University) last night in what should have been a pre-season exhibition shellacking for the Cardinals. After all, Coach Pitino’s squad is projected to finish 4th in the top college basketball conference in the country. Pitino, however, had his doubts and going into the contest he knew that his team was not prepared. They would have to depend upon “muscle and hustle” to compete with the NAIA Division 1 school. He even feared that they may lose the game. As basketball goes, it was an ugly contest. Georgetown led most of the way in a game that saw sixty fouls called. It was sloppy, the shooting was terrible and Louisville appeared to be asleep. Midway through the second half, Pitino appeared prophetic as Georgetown held the lead, causing the 17,000 plus fans to grow uneasy.

    Basketball is a beautiful game, though, even when it appears ugly to the amateur voyeur. The observant and keen basketball fan knows that there are moments, even in the most mundane contests, that allow for individual players to undergo a metamorphosis. Sometimes it happens over the course of a season or even an entire career, but at certain special moments, it can happen in an instant. For Kyle Kuric it happened in the last eleven minutes of a game that didn’t officially count, but may have been the biggest in his young career.

    Midway through the second half with his team trailing by two points, Kyle Kuric jumped out of the gym to grab the rebound off of a missed shot from teammate Terrence Jennings. Rather than bringing the ball down, he emphatically crammed the ball through the basket; bring the Cards’ faithful to their feet. Over the next six minutes, Louisville went on a 15-5 run that included eight points from Kuric. By the end of the night, Louisville pulled ahead and cruised to an 80-68 victory. Kyle Kuric finished with a college-career high 15 points and seven rebounds. More importantly, he gave himself a good chance to become Louisville’s small forward this season.

  Coach Pitino commented that Kuric’s play was making him "really happy".  Pitino is used to coaching lottery picks, so it’s refreshing to see a player like Kuric who will have the next three seasons to grow and develop as a player. He is the epitome of what a college basketball player should be. He came to Louisville, and like so many outstanding high school athletes accepted being a role player on a team of stars. Rather than accepting his role this season, he worked hard over the summer. It showed.

    “It’s fun for the fans to watch,” Pitino said after the game. “Of the fans here, I bet 15,000 of them didn’t think Kyle could play. But they’re leaving here saying, ‘Boy, he’s pretty good.’”