Daren Queenan (born October 19, 1966) is an American retired

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. Born in

Norristown, Pennsylvania Norristown is a municipality with home rule status and the county seat of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Montgomery County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the third-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the 7 ...

, he attended

Norristown High School Norristown Area School District is a school district located in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The school district serves the borough of Norristown, East Norriton Township, and West Norriton Township municipalities in central Montgomery County ...

as a teenager but went virtually unrecruited by colleges to play basketball except for nearby

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epis ...

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19, ...

. Queenan was an undersized

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

in high school, standing at , but then-assistant Lehigh coach

Fran McCaffery Francis John McCaffery (born May 23, 1959) is an American college basketball coach and the current men's basketball head coach at the University of Iowa. He has taken four Division I (NCAA), Division I programs to postseason tournaments, includi ...

signed him to play for the Mountain Hawks and turned him into a

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

(toward the end of Queenan's career at Lehigh, McCaffery said, "You wouldn't believe how many coaches told me Daren couldn't play for them. Every coach makes mistakes, but when you say a kid can't play, and he scores 3,000 points, that's a mistake.") McCaffery would become Lehigh's head coach for Queenan's final three seasons.

Basketball career

College

During Queenan's four-year college career, spanning from 1984–85 to 1987–88, he became one of the most prolific scorers in

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

history. He led Lehigh in scoring all four seasons, finished second in the nation in points per game as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

(28.4), and is still only one of eight players in Division I to have recorded 2,700+ points and 1,000+ rebounds. He holds numerous school records, including points in a game (49) and career (2,703) as well as total rebounds (1,013). Queenan led the Engineers to the school's first-ever appearance in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

in 1985, then guided them to a second berth in 1988. He was a four-time First Team All-East Coast Conference selection and was the co-honoree of the 1987 ECC Player of the Year award. Especially known for highlight reel dunks, Queenan was also versatile and could play

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

as well.

Professional

Despite his record-setting collegiate career, Queenan was not drafted into the NBA, though he did play for the Detroit Pistons in their training camp. He was later cut because teams were not willing to risk signing a mid-sized player coming from a small, unestablished school (basketball-wise) such as Lehigh. He spent the first couple years after graduating playing in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

and even won the CBA Dunk Contest in 1989 as a member of the Charleston Gunners. After two failed NBA tryouts with the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

and

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

, Queenan realized that overseas was his most viable professional basketball option. Over the course of the next 12 years, he played for teams in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

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 ...

, plus a stint in the

United States Basketball League 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 ...

in his later years. He spent the majority of his career in Belgium, where he has become a

naturalized citizen Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

and now holds

dual citizenship Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on ...

with the United States.

Later life

Queenan is married and has multiple children. He now works as a certified financial planner for

TIAA-CREF The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA, formerly TIAA-CREF), is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Queenan, Daren 1966 births Living people Alaska Aces (PBA) players Albany Patroons players American expatriate basketball people in Argentina American expatriate basketball people in Belgium American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Apollon Patras B.C. players Barangay Ginebra San Miguel players Basketball players from Pennsylvania Belgian men's basketball players British Basketball League players Charleston Gunners players Gimnasia y Esgrima de Comodoro Rivadavia basketball players Joventut Badalona players La Crosse Catbirds players Lehigh Mountain Hawks men's basketball players Liga ACB players Naturalised citizens of Belgium Okapi Aalstar players People from Norristown, Pennsylvania Philippine Basketball Association imports Rapid City Thrillers players Shooting guards Small forwards Sportspeople from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

Basketball career

College

Professional

Later life

See also

References