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15 DeMarcus Cousins

Name
DeMarcus Cousins
Position
Center
Class
FR
Hometown (Last School)
Mobile, AL
Ht
6'11"
Wt
260
Seasons
2009-10
Birthday
August 13, 1990

DeMarcus Cousins was born DeMarcus Amir Cousins on August 13, 1990, in Mobile, Alabama to Monique Cousins.

Nicknamed “Boogie”, he played college basketball for Kentucky, where he was an All-American in 2010.

Cousins was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, and attended LeFlore Magnet High School there. He led LeFlore to the Alabama class 6A Final Four. Cousins averaged 24.1 points, 13.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 3.2 blocks, and 5.1 steals per game his senior season. He was a first-team Parade All-American in 2009 and played in the 2009 McDonald’s All-American Boys Game, finishing with 14 points and 8 rebounds. Cousins also played in the 2009 Nike Hoop Summit at the Rose Garden in Portland and the Jordan Brand Classic at Madison Square Garden where he scored 10 points for the black team. He was a member of the 2009 USA Junior National Select Team and was ranked the second-best recruit in the country and the No. 1 power forward by Rivals.com.

Cousins first committed to Alabama-Birmingham on February 28, 2008, but never signed a letter of intent. Cousins decommitted from UAB and committed to Memphis on March 9, 2009. He reopened his recruitment after then-Memphis coach John Calipari was hired at Kentucky. On April 7, 2009, Cousins decided to follow John Calipari to Kentucky. He signed his letter of intent on April 15.

At Kentucky, Cousins averaged 15.1 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game. His numbers are particularly gaudy considering his limited playing time. Cousins was on the court just 23.5 minutes a game, partly because he struggled to stay out of foul trouble early in the season and because the Wildcats won so many blowouts. In just his third game as a Wildcat on November 19, 2009, against Sam Houston State, Cousins scored 27 points and snagged 18 rebounds, both career highs. On December 21, 2009, Cousins scored 18 points to go along with 13 rebounds, in just 14 minutes of play, as Kentucky claimed its 2,000th win with an 88-44 shellacking of Drexel.Led by Cousins and John Wall, the Wildcats reached the Elite Eight of the 2010 NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats went 35-3 during the 2009-10 season, eventually dropping a game against West Virginia that would have got them to the Final Four and a matchup with the Duke Blue Devils. Cousins was aconsensus All-American, an All-SEC selection, an All-Freshman selection, an All-SEC Tourney selection, and then an All-Region selection in the NCAA Tournament.

On April 7, 2010, Cousins announced that he would forgo his final three seasons of collegiate eligibility and enter the 2010 NBA draft, where he was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the fifth overall pick. On July 7, 2010, Cousins signed his rookie contract with the Kings, worth about $7 million for the first two years with a team option for the third and fourth years. In his first season with the Kings, Cousins was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, and from 2015 to 2018, he was named an NBA All-Star four times.

Cousins was inducted into the Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019.

College Statistics:

NCAA

SeasonTeamMINFGMFGA3PM3PAFTMFTAORDRPFASTTOBLKSTLPTSGMPGFG%FT%3P%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
Kentucky89320636816162268155220122387967375753823.555.9860.4516.679.91.01.01.815.1
Total-89320636816162268155220122387967375753823.555.9860.4516.679.91.01.01.815.1

Career Totals

SeasonMINFGMFGA3PM3PAFTMFTAORDRPFASTTOBLKSTLPTSGMPGFG%FT%3P%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
2009-1089320636816162268155220122387967375753823.555.9860.4516.679.91.01.01.815.1
Total89320636816162268155220122387967375753823.555.9860.4516.679.91.01.01.815.1

On This Day In UK Basketball History

On March 28, 1992, in what many called the “best NCAA Tournament game ever,” Kentucky takes defending NCAA champion Duke into overtime before losing 104-103 in the East Regional finals in Philadelphia. A last-second shot by Christian Laettner sends Duke to the Final Four, and breaks the hearts of Wildcat fans everywhere. It is Cawood Ledford’s last game as the “Voice of the Wildcats.”

 

On March 28, 1998, against Stanford, Kentucky rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit, then grabbed a 5-point overtime lead, before fending off the Cardinals to advance to the title game for the third straight season. Jeff Sheppard canned three long-range three-pointers - two in the final three minutes and one in overtime - en route to a career-high 27 points.

 

On March 28, 2014, unranked Kentucky beat No. 5 Louisville 74-69, in the 2014 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.  Aaron Harrison buried a three-pointer from the left corner with 39 seconds left that put UK ahead to stay before 41,072 in Lucas Oil Stadium.

 

On March 28, 2015, No. 1 Kentucky defeated No. 8 Notre Dame, 68-66, in the 2015 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.  With its 37-0 record on the line, Kentucky trailed Notre Dame 59-53 with 6:14 left. UK rallied in front of 19,464 fans in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena and preserved its perfect season thanks to a crucial blocked shot by Willie Cauley-Stein and two game-deciding free throws from Andrew Harrison in the final seconds.

 

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