Christopher J. Kingsbury (born September 18, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player. A shooting guard who was known for his long range 3-point shooting, he was one of the top ranked players in the 1993 high school class. He played 3 years of

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

with the Iowa Hawkeyes, and left after his junior year to declare for the

1996 NBA Draft The 1996 NBA draft was the 50th draft in the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held on June 26, 1996 at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting college basketball playe ...

. After going undrafted he played in the CBA, the IBL and in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

before retiring from professional basketball in 2001.

High school career

Kingsbury was born in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

and lived in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

in his early years. He attended Hamilton High School in Hamilton, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, and he was a starter since his freshman year. He averaged 16.4 points per game as a sophomore, and as a junior he averaged 19.7 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists per game. He was considered among the top players of his area together with Damon Flint, and one of the top 30 players in the nation by

Bob Gibbons Bob Gibbons is an American talent scout specializing in American high school basketball players. He is based in Lenoir, North Carolina. Gibbons founded All-Star Sports in 1974. Before that, he was a high school player and coach. He is one of t ...

, and after the end of his junior season he was selected in the ''Parade'' All-America Fourth Team. As a senior he was averaging 20.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game until the month of February, and finished the season with a 22.2 points per game average. He was one of the top seniors in the nation, and he was selected as a

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger s ...

: in the 1993 McDonald's game, which was played in

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

, he scored 2 points, shooting 1/5 from the field. 1993 game and rosters at page 75. He also won the 3-point shooting contest. He is the all-time top scorer of Hamilton High School with 1,540 points, and he also holds the record of most 3-point shots made with 184, and most free throws made with 297.

College career

Kingsbury was being recruited by Gary Close of

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

since the age of 14; he also received offers from

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

and

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. He signed a letter of intent with Iowa in November 1992, and officially signed in April 1993. He chose to wear jersey number 14 and he made his debut in the first game of the season on November 30, 1993 against

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

, playing 21 minutes and scoring 9 points. He played a total of 27 games in his freshman year, starting 3 (against

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, Purdue and Northwestern) and finished the season with averages of 8.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 20.2 minutes per game. Kingsbury's sophomore season was his best with Iowa. He set the school record for most 3-pointers made in one game with 9 on two occasions: against Drake on November 29, 1994, and against Long Island on December 17, in his first start of the season. He scored a career-high 32 points in 24 minutes against Northwestern on February 9. Kingsbury was given more playing time from coach Tom Davis and he led the team in scoring with a 16.8 points per game average, shooting 39.4% from three and setting a record for most three-pointers in a season with 117; he also led the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

in 3-point field goal attempts. He started 26 of 33 games, averaging 28.2 minutes per game. In the weeks preceding the start of his junior season Kingsbury was arrested and pleaded guilty to a charge of public intoxication for an incident happened in the lobby of a

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a division ...

hotel in

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the tim ...

. This also resulted in a 2-game suspension from preseason exhibition games. On November 24, 1995, during the

Great Alaska Shootout The ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout is an annual women's college basketball tournament in Anchorage, Alaska that features host University of Alaska Anchorage and three visiting NCAA Div. I teams. The four-team tournament is resuming ...

, Kingsbury scored 30 points against

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

on a 101–95

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

win: he shot 5/11 from the three point line, and converted 11 of 12 free throws. In the month of February 1996 he received a 3-game suspension unsportsmanlike conduct and missed the games against Northwestern, Indiana and Michigan. His junior season was considered disappointing, as he received less playing time and he finished the season with averages of 11.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 22.9 minutes per game. He led the Big Ten in 3-point field goal attempts for the second consecutive season, and finished his career at Iowa with 1,118 total points and records for most 3-pointers in a game, in a season and in a career. The first two records are still standing as of 2019, while the third one was beaten by Matt Gatens and Jeff Horner.

College statistics

, - , align="left" , 1993–94 , align="left" ,

, 27 , , 3 , , 20.2 , , .333 , , .321 , , .821 , , 2.6 , , 1.3 , , 0.9 , , 0.1 , , 8.1 , - , align="left" , 1994–95 , align="left" ,

, 33 , , 26 , , 28.2 , , .400 , , .394 , , .803 , , 2.7 , , 1.7 , , 1.2 , , 0.2 , , 16.8 , - , align="left" , 1995–96 , align="left" ,

, 29 , , 12 , , 22.9 , , .341 , , .308 , , .796 , , 2.3 , , 1.9 , , 0.6 , , 0.1 , , 11.9 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , , 89 , , 41 , , 23.8 , , .367 , , .350 , , .804 , , 2.6 , , 1.6 , , 0.9 , , 0.1 , , 12.6 , -

Professional career

After the end of his junior year at Iowa Kingsbury was facing the possibility of being deemed academically ineligible, and decided to declare for the NBA Draft on May 7, 1996. He went undrafted and participated in training camps with the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...

and the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

, but was cut by the Wizards before the 1996–97 NBA season. He then joined the

La Crosse Bobcats The La Crosse Bobcats were a Continental Basketball Association basketball team located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, from 1996 to the league's bankruptcy in February 2001. The Bobcats were the second CBA team located in La Crosse; previously, the La C ...

in the CBA, where he played 49 games (3 starts) averaging 5.1 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 16.5 minutes per game. He then moved to

, signing with JuveCaserta, and played 10 games, averaging 13.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 33.4 minutes per game, shooting 58.6% from the field and 41.2% from three. He scored a season-high 21 points in his debut game against Banco di Sardegna Sassari, shooting 6 for 14 from the field (5/12 from three) and 4 for 5 from the free throw line. However, during his time in Italy he did not receive regular payments, and he therefore decided to come back to the United States. He joined the Cincinnati Stuff of the IBL, and played two seasons before retiring from professional basketball. After the end of his basketball career he went on to work in a bank in

Ponca, Nebraska Ponca is a city and county seat of Dixon County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 961 at the 2010 census. History Ponca was established in 1856 and is Nebraska's fourth oldest town. It was named for the Ponca Indian tribe native to ...

References

External links

Stats at Sports-Reference.comStats at RealGM.com

Italian league stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingsbury, Chris 1974 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball players from Ohio Cincinnati Stuff players Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball players Juvecaserta Basket players La Crosse Bobcats players McDonald's High School All-Americans Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Shooting guards Sportspeople from Hamilton, Ohio