the Baller’s Almanac: August 12, 2012

Larry Humes was born on this day in 1943. He was Indiana's Mr. Basketball in 1962. Turning down offers from Division I powerhouse UCLA, he instead chose Division II. He played collegiately at Evansville (playing with Jerry Sloan) where he led them to two Division II national titles. Asked about his college choice in 2012, he said, "I had several offers from schools like UCLA and Purdue, but Coach Ritter (who was from Evansville) told me that Evansville was the best place for me due to several factors: a good brand of basketball, a new stadium, etc.  We had a very hard non-conference Division I schedule (LSU, Notre Dame, etc.), so once we got to our conference schedule it was easy.  I have no regrets about my college choice"

It's Gerald Fitch's 30th birthday, born in Columbus, Georgia. Fitch was Mr. Basketball in the State of Georgia, and then went to college at Kentucky. He was a starter for most of his four years, but the teams were disappointing by Kentucky standards. They only advanced once as far as the Elite Eight. His career ended with a missed shot at the buzzer against UAB which would have put his team into the Sweet-16.

Rafael Araujo was born on this day in 1980, in Curitiba, Brazil. He began at Arizona Western College (and later stated that head coach Kelly Green gave him $400 to get his visa and move to Yuma, AZ). After two successful seasons he moved on to Division I with Brigham Young. But prior to playing any games at BYU he competed in the 2002 World Championships (for Brazil) and there tested positive for steroids. He received a 2-year suspension from International play. He consistently tested clean at BYU.

As a junior the 6-11 Araujo was 2nd in the Mountain West in rebounding, and as a senior he averaged a double-double with 18.4 points and 10.1 rebounds, sharing the conference Player of the Year honors with Nick Welch (Air Force). But that season saw multiple on-court incidents which added to Araujo's rough reputation. He was reprimanded for punching UNLV guard Jerel Blassingame, and later elbowed Utah's Andrew Bogut in the head.

Other birthdays include: Roy Hurley 1922 (Murray State), Jack Rocker 1922 (Cal), Bob Harrison 1927 (Michigan), Ed Biedenbach 1945 (NC State), Cornell Warner 1948 (Jackson State), George McGinnis 1950 (Indiana), and Antoine Walker 1976 (Kentucky)

Quantcast