Kevin Michael Rankin (born 26 August 1971) is a retired American/Turkish 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. He stands 2.10 m (6'11") tall and played the power forward and center positions.

Amateur career

After playing high school basketball in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, Rankin played

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 ...

Division I

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 ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. He attended the university from 1990 to 1994, compiling a distinguished academic and athletic record. Rankin started 111 of the 112 games he played at Northwestern and led the

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

in rebounding all four seasons, with a high of 8.4 per game during his junior season of 1992–1993. He remains the school's all-time leader in career blocked shots with 133. He led the team in scoring during his senior season, 1993–1994, with 15.3 points per game, and won the team MVP award in each of his last three seasons (1992, 1993, and 1994). He shared the 1992 award with teammates Todd Leslie and Cedric Neloms. During his senior year, Rankin led the Wildcats to a thrilling 97–93 overtime berth in the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

. The bid brought the Wildcats their first taste of postseason play since 1983. Rankin was also an academic standout. He was named to the Academic All-America second team in 1994, and the third team in 1993. He won a spot on the Academic All-Big Ten team each year from 1992 to 1994, and was awarded the Big Ten Medal of Honor for scholastic and athletic excellence in 1994.

References

External links

TBLStat.net Profile
1971 births Living people Alba Berlin players American emigrants to Turkey American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Turkey Basketball players from Wisconsin BC Andorra players American expatriate basketball people in Andorra Centers (basketball) Fenerbahçe men's basketball players Liga ACB players Naturalized citizens of Turkey Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball players Pallacanestro Biella players Power forwards Turkish men's basketball players Turkish expatriate basketball people in Germany Turkish expatriate basketball people in Israel Turkish people of American descent Ülker G.S.K. basketball players American men's basketball players Sportspeople from Wheeling, West Virginia {{Turkey-basketball-bio-stub