Choo Seung-gyun (born December 6, 1974) is a South Korean retired professional basketball player and coach. He spent his entire 15-year playing career with

Korean Basketball League The Korean Basketball League () or simply KBL is a professional men's basketball league in South Korea which was established in 1997. The league consists of ten teams and each team plays a total of 54 games (27 home and 27 away) in the regular s ...

team

Jeonju KCC Egis The Busan KCC Egis () is a professional basketball club based in Busan, South Korea. The team competes in the Korean Basketball League (KBL) and has established a substantial fanbase in South Korea. Founded in 1997, the team was initially based i ...

, who retired his number 4 jersey. After a brief stint in coaching, he became a

SPOTV SPOTV is a South Korean pay television network, which features sports programming and some sports-related talk shows. Founded in 2010, the network is the fourth Pay television, premium sports network in South Korea following by KBS N, KBS N S ...

commentator and covers KBL matches.

Early life

Choo is a native of

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

. Unlike many of his illustrious contemporaries, he did not attend a notable basketball high school in Seoul, nor did he come from a college basketball powerhouse such as Yonsei or

Korea University Korea University (KU, ) is a Private university, private research university in Seoul, South Korea. Established in 1905 by Yi Yong-ik, Lee Yong-Ik, a prominent official of the Korean Empire, Korea University is among South Korea's oldest List of ...

. He attended Jungang High School in Busan and moved to Seoul where he played for

Hanyang University Hanyang University (HYU, ) is a Private university, private research university in Seoul and Ansan (ERICA campus), South Korea. ''Hanyang'' () derives from the Names of Seoul, former name of the capital Seoul used during the Joseon period. The u ...

Playing career

College

As one of the region's biggest prospects, Choo was widely expected to attend Yonsei University or Korea University and raised eyebrows by choosing Hanyang University instead. In a 2012 interview, he stated that the decision was due to his desire to play more regularly and that neither Yonsei nor Korea University could guarantee him playing time as a freshman. In the 1997 National Basketball Festival, he went on to become the competition's top scorer, beating the likes of

Seo Jang-hoon Seo or SEO may refer to: * Search engine optimization, the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines Organisations * SEO Economic Research, a scientific institute * Spanish Ornithological Society (''Soci ...

(Yonsei) and Hyun Joo-yup (Korea). At that time, the duopoly of Yonsei University and Korea University was dominating college competitions and, partly due to Hanyang's poor results, Choo was often overshadowed by the likes of Seo, Hyun, Woo Ji-won, Shin Ki-sung and Chun Hee-chul.

Professional

Choo's career coincided with the founding of the professional

in 1997. He was signed by Daejeon Hyundai Dynat, which was later taken over by affiliate

KCC Corporation KCC Corporation (renamed from Kumkang Korea Chemicals Co., Ltd. in 2005) is a South Korean chemical and auto parts manufacturer, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Operations KCC's products include various kinds of paints, float glass, soft spo ...

and is now

. During Hyundai's early years, Choo was best known as part of the "Lee-Cho-Choo" trio alongside point guard Lee Sang-min and swingman forward Cho Sung-won which spearheaded the team's domination of the league during its early years. Choo, being the tallest of the threesome, was often tasked with defensive duties and also provided an added option around the paint due to his accurate shooting. Although Choo was largely overshadowed by his more flamboyant teammates, he gained a reputation for his cool and calm demeanor during high-pressure and clutch situations, which is reflected in the fact that he was the league's free throw percentage leader for a record six seasons. He made the " 180 Club", having achieved a 52.4% field goal percentage, 41.3% three-point field goal percentage and 90% free throw percentage during the 2004–05 season. His unflashy yet consistent playing style and clean private life earned him the sobriquet "Silent Strong Man" (), a contrast to colorful nicknames assigned to his contemporaries such as "Rambo Shooter" ( Moon Kyung-eun), "Bullet Man" ( Shin Ki-sung), "Airborne" ( Chun Hee-chul) and "Magic Hippo" ( Hyun Joo-yup). He was highly-regarded even by fans of opposing teams; when he scored against

Seoul SK Knights The Seoul SK Knights () is a professional basketball club in the Korean Basketball League. The club was originally founded by Jinro Group in 1997 as Cheongju Jinro McCass. Before the official launch of the basketball club, Jinro Group filed fo ...

in February 2012 to reach 10,000 career points, Knights fans gave him a standing ovation as a mark of respect. Choo announced his retirement at the end of the 2011–12 season. His number 4 jersey was

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

by the club. During his final season as a player, he became the second player in KBL history to reach the career benchmark of 10,000 points and made the playoffs for a record 13th time.

National team

Choo participated in the 1998 FIBA World Cup and the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and

2002 Asian Games The 2002 Asian Games, officially known as the XIV Asian Games and also known as Busan 2002 (), were an international multi-sport event held in Busan, South Korea from September 29 to October 14, 2002. Due to schedule impediments the football tour ...

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Choo remained at

as a member of the coaching staff under

Hur Jae Hur Jae (; born September 28, 1965) is a South Korean retired basketball coach and former player. His playing and coaching career combined spanned over three decades, beginning during the semi-professional era and coinciding with the establishm ...

, having previously played under him. He took over Hur as head coach in 2015. Choo's first season was a success as he led them to the play-off finals and first place in the league table. However, his next season was plagued by injury to key players and Jeonju KCC Egis finished at the bottom of the league. The 2018–19 season did not begin any better and he voluntarily resigned in November 2018, fourteen games into the season. At the time of his resignation, Jeonju KCC Egis was 7th in the league table.

Other activities

Choo joined

as a commentator in January 2021. He mainly covers weekend KBL games. Choo runs a YouTube channel called ''ChooSama TV'' (추사마 TV), "ChooSama" being the nickname given to him by fans during his playing days. He mainly discusses current events in the KBL, basketball tactics and players.

Personal life

Choo married Lee Yoon-jung in 2004. The couple have two sons.

References

External links

Career Statistics
from the

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Choo, Seung-gyun Living people 1974 births Basketball players at the 1998 Asian Games Basketball players at the 2002 Asian Games Hanyang University alumni Korean Basketball League players with retired numbers Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games silver medalists for South Korea Asian Games medalists in basketball Busan KCC Egis coaches Busan KCC Egis players Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games South Korean basketball commentators South Korea national basketball team players 1998 FIBA World Championship players Basketball players from Busan