Aminu Timberlake (born 1973) is an American basketball player who played in the NCAA with

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...

as a freshman, after having played in De LaSalle in his high school years. After Kentucky, the 6'10" forward transferred in his sophomore year to

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

. Upon graduation in 1995, Timberlake played professionally overseas for five years, in National Basketball leagues in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and in his final season 1998-1999 in the South Korea Basketball League in the LG Sakers before retiring from professional basketball.

In popular culture

Timberlake is famous for being stomped on by Duke star player

Christian Laettner Christian Donald Laettner (, ; born August 17, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. His college career for the Duke Blue Devils is widely regarded as one of the best in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) his ...

, in one of the most memorable NCAA basketball games of all-time, between the

and the

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Associatio ...

in the 1992 Elite Eight. Officials declined to eject Laettner, instead only charging him with a

technical foul In basketball, a technical foul (colloquially known as a "T" or a "tech") is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between opposing players on the court, or is a foul by a ...

, a decision especially controversial because Laettner went on to score 30 points, did not miss a shot during the entire game, and hit the game-winning basket with an overtime buzzer-beating shot in which

Grant Hill Grant Henry Hill (born October 5, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player who is a co-owner and executive of the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He attended Duke University and is widely considere ...

threw a inbounds pass to Laettner, who converted it from the free throw line. After many years of speculation about whether the stomping incident was an accident or an intentional foul, Laettner admitted during the airing of ''

30 for 30 ''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes three "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series un ...

'' documentary titled ''

I Hate Christian Laettner ''I Hate Christian Laettner'' is a 2015 ESPN '' 30 for 30'' documentary directed by Rory Karpf. Summary It examines the love/hate relationship towards Duke University basketball player Christian Laettner, and explores five factors which the fil ...

'' broadcast in March 2015 on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, that it was intentional. During the program, Laettner gave his reason for doing it, citing physical play by Timberlake particularly the latter's earlier fouls on him during the game. The former Duke center star also apologized to Timberlake over the incident.

Personal life

Timberlake is a devout

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. He met his wife while both were studying in

. He went on a mission trip to

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

, which helped strengthened his Christian faith. The couple has three girls. Timberlake remains a devout Christian today and is very active in North Atlanta Church of Christ where he also serves in a mentorship program of the church called Trail Guides. After retiring from international basketball, Timberlake went on to work as a telecommunications executive in the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia. Besides his new professional career, he still finds time to coach youth basketball.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Timberlake, Aminu Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players 1973 births Living people People from Chicago American men's basketball players Forwards (basketball)