Duke fans learned a lot of the Kon Knueppel story well before the rest of the country did. Grew up in Milwaukee in a basketball family, initially preferred gaming to hoops and learned to play in his father’s men’s league.
Coming from a basketball family is part of the Duke profile. You don’t have to look too far. Cooper Flagg did too and on this year’s team we have Cameron and Cayden Boozer, Patrick Ngongba and Nikolas Khamenia. The Boozers are sons of Duke great Carlos Boozer, Ngongba’s father played
at George Washington and his mother has coached in college for years, while Khamenia’s father was a GW teammate of Ngongba’s and his mother played too. His father is also a coach.
Knueppel’s parents were both outstanding players and the family focus on basketball is ongoing. In this clip with Bill Simmons, Knueppel talks about how playing in his father’s league was much better for his development than AAU ball. He got a chance to face off against older, smarter players who forced him to use his mind and to play a more mature style than he would have seen in the AAU circuit.
Here are some other clips from the interview.
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