Charles MacArthur Kornegay Jr. (born September 28, 1974) is a Spanish-American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. The 6' 9", 235-lb power forward gained notoriety at

Villanova University Villanova University is a private Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1842 and named after Saint Thomas of Villanova. The university is the oldest Catholic university in Penns ...

, before going on to star for the

Raleigh Cougars The Raleigh Cougars was a United States Basketball League team based in Raleigh, North Carolina from 1997 to 1999. The team included many well known players from local colleges. The team played its home games at Dorton Arena. The Cougars were ow ...

of the

USBL The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

, and ultimately overseas. Cougars fans called him the "Chuck-wagon", "Chuck Diesel" and "Korn-dawg".

Basketball career

As a

standout at

Southern Wayne High School Southern Wayne High School is a high school for grades 9–12, located in Dudley near Goldsboro, North Carolina, USA. It is part of the Wayne County School System. Southern Wayne currently employs 135 staff members for over 1,000 students. ...

in Dudley, North Carolina, Kornegay was heavily recruited by American universities. He signed with nearby school, North Carolina State University. He played at NCSU for the Wolfpack during the 1993–1994 season, before transferring to

in suburban

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. He played for there for three seasons and led the Wildcats to

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

conference championships in 1995 and 1997. During his career at Villanova, the team won 70 of 93 games and was rated as high as #2 nationally by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

. He ended his collegiate career with averages of 7.3 points per game and 5.6 rebounds per game. After graduation, Kornegay was selected by the

Yakima Sun Kings The Yakima SunKings are a basketball team located in Yakima, Washington, covering the central Washington sports market of Yakima, Tri-Cities, and Ellensburg and plays at the Yakima SunDome. The team competed in the Continental Basketball Associat ...

in the 3rd round with the 28th overall pick of the 1997 CBA draft. Instead of joining the CBA, Kornegay returned to his home state of North Carolina to star for the

in the 1997–1998 season, forming a formidable frontline with

Lorenzo Charles Lorenzo Emile Charles (November 25, 1963 – June 27, 2011) was an American college and professional basketball player. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Charles played basketball for North Carolina State University and scored the game-winning ...

and Greg Newton. In 1998, Kornegay played professional basketball in Australia for the

Brisbane Bullets The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to the league in 2016. Brisbane were one of ten NBL f ...

of the NBL. After his stint down under, Kornegay moved to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, and played for a number of teams in that country before eventually hanging on with the Spanish team

Unicaja Malaga Unicaja is a Spanish savings bank based in Málaga and chartered as a caja de ahorros providing retail banking services. The banks full name is ''Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Ronda, Cádiz, Almería, Málaga y Antequera'' after th ...

of the Euroleague. He patrolled the pivot there from 2001 to 2004, and even represented

in their 3rd-place run through the 2001 European Basketball Championship in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. In 2005, Kornegay returned to Turkey to play for Besiktas ColaTurka of the

Turkish Basketball League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and ...

(TBL). After his stint in Turkey, Kornegay moved back to Spain to play for Etosa Alicante. He coaches annually at his old college, Villanova, for summer basketball camp. The team he coached at camp won the high school championship in 2012. In September 2015, Kornegay was announced as Basketball Coach at Souderton (PA) HS.

Achievements

*1997 Villanova University defensive player of the year *1997

All-Rookie Team *1998 named to second team all nbl (Australia) *1999 appeared in acb league finals *2001 Won Bronze at European Basketball Championship *2001 appeared in acb league finals *2002-2003 Led Euroleague in Blocked Shots *1999-2000 voted acb league most exciting player *2004 appeared in acb league finals

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kornegay, Charles 1974 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Australia American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Baloncesto Málaga players Basketball players from North Carolina Brisbane Bullets players CB Lucentum Alicante players Liga ACB players Menorca Bàsquet players NC State Wolfpack men's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Real Betis Baloncesto players Spanish men's basketball players Spanish people of American descent Villanova Wildcats men's basketball players