Eugene "Goo" Kennedy (August 23, 1949December 8, 2020) was an American professional

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. A 6'7" forward/center, Kennedy played one season (1970–71) of college basketball at

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

, and was named the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

Player of the Year after leading the

TCU Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competing mostly in the Big 12 Conference. The sc ...

to the conference championship. He averaged 16.6 rebounds per game that season, with a high of 28 versus the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

.TCU Lettermen's Hall of Fame Banquet Set For Friday
. TCU Athletics. 4 September 2003. Retrieved on 20 September 2009. After college, Kennedy played four seasons in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

as a member of the

Dallas Chaparrals The Dallas Chaparrals were a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The team moved to San Antonio, Texas for the 1973–74 season and were renamed the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs joined the National Basketball Association ...

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

Spirits of St. Louis The Spirits of St. Louis were a basketball franchise based in St. Louis that played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1974 to 1976. This was the third and last city of a franchise that had begun as a charter member in 1967 as the ...

, and

Utah Stars The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround. History prior to moving to ...

. He then played one season in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

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 ...

. He averaged 8.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game during his professional career. Kennedy and his wife, Mary, raised over forty foster children over the years. Kennedy died at age 71 on 8 December 2020, according to his daughter Eugenia. The cause of death was not immediately known.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Goo 1949 births 2020 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball players from Charlotte, North Carolina Centers (basketball) Dallas Chaparrals players Houston Rockets players Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Power forwards San Antonio Spurs players Spirits of St. Louis players TCU Horned Frogs men's basketball players Utah Stars players