Where are they now? Basketball player Kent Culuko of Mahwah
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
BY STEVE POPPER
STAFF WRITER
The Record
For Kent Culuko, most days go like this: basketball in the
morning, basketball in the afternoon and a little more basketball at
night.
"My wife said to me, ‘You teach basketball all day long, coach
it, play in a men’s league, and then come home and put on a basketball
game to watch on TV,’ " Culuko said. "She doesn’t understand. She said,
‘How do you not get tired of it?’ ’’
While his wife, Jill, may not understand, she has gotten used
to the fact that their life is accompanied by the sound of a bouncing
ball. Their 7-year-old son, Karson, already has put in time on the
court. Jill, 8 1/2 months pregnant with the family’s second son, expects
the next son to be a basketball lifer, too.
It’s how it always has been for Culuko. His father, Cliff, was
a standout player, starring for Long Island University before coaching
at Bergenfield High School. Kent and his younger brother, Craig, were
the next in line.
"Me and my brother grew up in the gym," Kent Culuko said. "That’s what we knew."
It’s what he knew and what he’s passing on to others. Culuko
starred at Mahwah High School, amassing 2,780 points — the
second-highest total in Bergen County history — then moved on to James
Madison University, where he etched his way into the record book. He’s
still ranked among the leaders in points and three-point field goals.
He provided one of the most storied moments in school history,
one that’s easily found on YouTube. He swished a last-second
three-pointer to send JMU into the 1994 NCAA tournament, the school’s
first berth in 11 years.
From there, his career took a bumpy road — facing the same
obstacles that so many players on the fringe of the NBA also face, and
then some. His dream of playing in the league was so close, but never
quite in his grasp.
"I tried out with the Nets in ’96 and ’98," he recalled,
having also been invited to try out for the Cleveland Cavaliers. "I knew
I could play at that level, and when I didn’t make it it was a real big
disappointment.
"I had veteran players on the Nets, Kevin Edwards and Michael
Cage, telling me, ‘You’re going to play at this level.’ … Not that I’d
be a starter, but I could have been an 11th, 12th man, a guy who could
help a team."
He played professionally in Bulgaria, Germany, Finland and
Argentina, clinging to his dream of making the NBA. Those dreams fell
apart when he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, at Jayson
Williams’ home, when the former Nets star shot and killed his limousine
driver. Williams was convicted of aggravated assault.
But basketball didn’t disappear. Culuko always had worked with
younger kids when he was in college and on his stops home between
stints around the globe.
"I started training kids when I’d come home, local kids from
Mahwah, in my driveway," he said. "It started then, and when I got out
of college and played overseas, it grew and grew.
"I had to make a decision — am I going to play or do this? It
started rolling and I still wanted to play. I wanted to play pro ball. I
loved training the kids, but my heart was with playing. … But I grew
passionate and it grew on me."
Those one-on-one lessons have expanded. He still gives lessons
and trains elite players such as St. Anthony’s UCLA-bound Kyle
Anderson. But he also runs camps and clinics that over the course of a
year, he estimates, attract 2,000 to 3,000 kids. While he runs camps
through his IYBasketball.com flagship, he also has a non-profit project
(blazebasketballclub.com) that runs AAU teams. Now living with his
family in Pequannock, he is searching for a permanent home for the
programs.
"I rent out about five different facilities now," Culuko said.
" … We need people to know where we are and they want a schedule of
what’s going on for the next three months. We think the business can
grow when we do that."
