Cory Blackwell (born March 27, 1963) is an 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 who was selected by the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

in the second round (28th pick overall) of the 1984 NBA draft. A 6'6" forward from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

. Blackwell appeared in only one NBA season, playing for the Sonics during the 1984–85 season, appearing in 60 games and scoring a total of 202 points. He has been a minister for the

International Churches of Christ The International Churches of Christ (ICOC) is a body of co-operating, religiously conservative and racially integrated

and is a Middle East World Sector Leader (overseeing minister) for the

International Christian Churches Thomas Wayne "Kip" McKean II (born May 31, 1954) is an American former minister of the International Churches of Christ and is a current minister of the City of Angels International Christian Church and World Missions Evangelist of the Interna ...

. He will also begin serving as an Evangelist for their Chicago congregation.

Personal life

Cory Blackwell was born in Chicago. He was raised Sunni Muslim by his mother, Wazirah. After attending Crane Technical High School, located in the westside of Chicago, he was accepted into the University of Wisconsin. He played on the school's basketball team and was later drafted into the NBA. After his time in the NBA, Blackwell lived in Chicago. Later on he and his then wife, Megan, were baptized there in 1990 into the Chicago International Church of Christ. In 1991, he was asked by Kip McKean to move to LA. In 1994, he and his then wife were selected to be the Middle East World Sector Leaders (WSL) since Cory's mother, Wazirah, was a muslim. In 2000, he and Megan stepped down from the ministry and later they divorced in 2002. In 2010, Cory Blackwell joined the ICC and after remarrying, he was appointed Middle East WSL. He currently lives in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. This summer he and his current wife, Jeraldine, are moving to Chicago to lead the Chicago ICC and oversee the Midwest and Middle East from there. Another of his ex-wives is Charlotte Hayward-Blackwell, mother of NFL defensive tackle

Cameron Heyward Cameron Phillip Heyward (born May 6, 1989) is an American football defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Steelers in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college ...

References

1963 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Finland American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Basketball players from Chicago Fenerbahçe men's basketball players Great Taste Coffee Makers players La Crosse Catbirds players Philippine Basketball Association imports Seattle SuperSonics draft picks Seattle SuperSonics players Small forwards Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball players {{1960s-US-basketball-bio-stub