Chris Street

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Chris Street

Personal Info
Date of Birth (1972-02-02)February 2, 1972
Date of Death January 19, 1993(1993-01-19) (aged 20)
Height 6'8"
Weight 220 pounds
Player Information
Position PF
Number 40
Team Iowa Hawkeyes

Christopher Michael "Chris" Street (February 2, 1972 – January 19, 1993) was an American college basketball power forward for the Iowa Hawkeyes. A potential NBA player, he died in an automobile accident during his junior year at Iowa.

Biography

Other than basketball, Street also excelled in baseball and football during high school. He moved with his family to Indianola, Iowa in the fall of 1987 and starred on the town's Class 4A team at Indianola High School. Street committed to play basketball at the University of Iowa as a junior in high school.[1]

Street played in 28 games as a freshman and averaged 5.0 ppg, and 5.1 rebounds. As a sophomore, he averaged 10.6 ppg,and 8.2 rebounds. In the first 15 games of the 1992–93 season Street averaged 14.5 ppg and 9.5 rebounds.[2] In his final game he scored 14 points and collected 8 rebounds and extended his record of made free throws to 34, in a 65-56 loss to Duke. It was in that game that he also set a school record by hitting his 33rd and 34th consecutive free throws.[3]

On January 19, 1993, following a team dinner at the Highlander Inn outside of Iowa City, Street was killed when his car pulled onto the highway and collided with a snow plow. His girlfriend, Kim Vinton, was a passenger and survived the accident but was treated at a local hospital for a punctured lung and separated shoulder. The basketball game scheduled against Northwestern the following night was postponed.

Legacy

When Chris Street died, Iowa Hawkeye Men's Basketball Coach Tom Davis said "Chris represented all that is good about the Midwest and the state of Iowa. He was open, caring, honest, loving and lived life to the fullest every day."[4]

Chris Street's number 40 was retired by the University of Iowa's Men's Basketball team at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on February 6, 1993. No other Hawkeye numbers have been retired since.[5] At the end of each season, the Chris Street Award is given to the Hawkeye player or players who best exemplify the spirit, enthusiasm, and intensity of Chris Street[6] When it was announced that the award was created shortly after Street's death in 1993, Iowa Coach Tom Davis said “We want to remember everything Chris represented. He was one of the greatest Hawkeyes of all time.”[7]

Street is buried in the IOOF Cemetery in Indianola, Iowa beneath a monument that says "Son * Brother * Grandson * Friend * Cousin * Nephew * Hero".[8]

References

  1. ↑ http://hawkcentral.com/2012/04/25/matt-gatens-walks-in-chris-streets-footsteps/
  2. ↑ http://hawkcentral.com/2012/04/25/matt-gatens-walks-in-chris-streets-footsteps/
  3. ↑ http://bleacherreport.com/articles/329257-chris-street-a-hawkeye-through-and-through
  4. ↑ http://hawkcentral.com/2012/04/25/matt-gatens-walks-in-chris-streets-footsteps/
  5. ↑ http://bleacherreport.com/articles/329257-chris-street-a-hawkeye-through-and-through
  6. ↑ http://thegazette.com/2012/04/24/matt-gatens-earns-chris-street-award-named-iowas-top-defender/
  7. ↑ http://hawkcentral.com/2012/04/25/matt-gatens-walks-in-chris-streets-footsteps/
  8. ↑ http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=28870734&PIpi=13341256
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