Fennis Dembo
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Fennis Marx Dembo (born January 24, 1966 in Mobile, Alabama) is a former professional basketball player for the 1989 NBA Champion Detroit Pistons of the NBA. Playing at the power forward position, he only played in the NBA for one season, averaging 1.2 points in 31 games. He was picked by the Pistons in the 2nd round of the NBA Draft with the 5th pick (30th overall).
He is better known for his success in basketball when attending the University of Wyoming from 1985-1988. While at Wyoming, Dembo was a three time All-Western Athletic Conference basketball player and was named WAC Player of the Year in 1987. He remains Wyoming's all-time scoring leader, scoring 2,311 points. He attended high school in San Antonio, Texas.
His good shooting and athleticism helped him lead Wyoming to the 1986 NIT in which Wyoming finished as runner-up. He also led the Cowboys to the "Sweet 16" of the 1987 NCAA Basketball Tournament and was the leading scorer of the tournament, scoring 27.8 points per game. In the second round of that tournament, the 12th seeded Cowboys played the 4th seeded UCLA Bruins, who featured future NBA star Reggie Miller. Wyoming pulled off the upset with a 78-68 win. Dembo became the star of that game; he scored 41 points, made 7 of 10 three point shots, and was a perfect 16-16 from the free-throw line. Wyoming would lose their next game to UNLV, but Dembo would become a Wyoming sports icon after his performance against UCLA.
Wyoming made it back to the tournament the following year, Dembo's senior season, but lost in the first round. Dembo appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated in its 1987-1988 NCAA Basketball Preview edition. He was the first Wyoming athlete ever featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.