Kevin Houston (born c. 1964) is a former American basketball player who is best known for leading NCAA Division I in scoring during his

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 ...

season at

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in 1986–87. He averaged 32.9 points per game in 29 games played and set still-standing school records for points in a single game (53) and season (953). Houston was raised in

Pearl River, New York Pearl River is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Orangetown, New York, Orangetown, Rockland County, New York, Rockland County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is east of Chestnut Ridge, New York, ...

and was a three-year starter on the varsity basketball team at Pearl River High School. He was a diminutive , 165 lbs. in his prime during college, so as a high school player was even smaller. His small stature played a big role in why he was overlooked by college scouts. Houston decided to attend the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

for one year after high school. The

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

(Army), located in his home state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, was the only university that had shown Houston any interest during his basketball recruitment. He enrolled at Army in the fall of 1983 to play for the Black Knights. During his four-year career, Houston started every single one of the 113 games he played in, which ties him for the most all-time games played in Army history. By the time he graduated from the Academy in 1987, he had re-written the school's record book. Houston scored still-standing program records for points in a game (53), season (953), career (2,325), and season points per game (32.9) among others. He was the first ever Army player to be named the

Haggerty Award __NOTOC__ The Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award is given to the All-New York Metropolitan NCAA Division I men's college basketball player of the year, presented by the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and the Met Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) ...

winner, an honor that he shared as a senior with St. John's Mark Jackson, which is given to the best men's basketball player in the greater

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

metropolitan area. Houston was also the 1986–87 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year and the NCAA season scoring champion. He was a three-time All-MAAC honoree, two-time honorable mention All-American and one-time third team All-American. After college, Houston served his mandatory stint in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

for several years. He got into high school coaching and guided the

Storm King School The Storm King School (SKS) is an independent coeducational boarding and day school in the U.S. state of New York. Established in 1867, it is one of New York's oldest boarding schools. It is a college preparatory school for students in ...

, located in

Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York Cornwall-on-Hudson is a riverfront village in the town of Cornwall, Orange County, New York, United States. It lies on the west bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of New York City. The population as of the 2010 census was 3,018. It ...

, to two New England Private School Championships in just seven years. One of his players was future NBA draft pick

Sammy Mejia Sammy is a nickname, frequently for people named Samuel, and also an English spelling of the Arabic name Sami. People Music *Sammy Adams (born 1987), American rapper and songwriter *Sammy Cahn (1913-1993), American songwriter *Sammy Davis Jr. ( ...

. Kevin was married to his high school sweetheart, Elizabeth Cuccia, for 21 years before she died on January 3, 2009. They have three children: Lauren, Luke and Leanne.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Houston, Kevin 1960s births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in France American men's basketball players Army Black Knights men's basketball players Basketball players from New York (state) High school basketball coaches in the United States People from Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York People from Pearl River, New York Sportspeople from Rockland County, New York Point guards Shooting guards United States Army soldiers Year of birth missing (living people)

See also

References