Louisville Magazine

DEC 2013

Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.

Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/214077

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 40 of 109

James Brewer (1988-'93) Alvin Sims (1993-'97) Herb Crook (1984-'88) When the three-point shot was introduced in 1986, the Cards launched seven of them — in their frst six games. They made one, even with Kenny Payne on the team. To start the next season, against Notre Dame, they took 14 three-pointers and made none. Nobody's saying that Bardstown High recruit James "Boo" Brewer led them to the three-point promised land. Payne and Everick Sullivan and Dwayne Morton played double his minutes and had bigger overall impacts. But the streaky Brewer was a crowd-pleaser, a havoc guy who in his junior and senior years was an electric offensive player, hitting eight of 16 treys in '92 tournament games and going 4-6 against Vandy, 6-9 against DePaul and 8-14 against Oral Roberts in '92-'93. He now lives in Bardstown and coaches his alma mater's team. Born in Chicago but a graduate of Paris (Ky.) High School, the burly 6-4 guard — who played alongside highscoring DeJuan Wheat for four seasons — specialized in steals and thunderous dunks. Darrell Griffth aside, Alvin Sims was the most entertaining dunker in Cards history, blowing by defenders on drives to the basket and in most cases rattling the rim with two hands. Only Ellison and Griffth top him in career dunks. Sims' most memorable game was the '97 NCAA tournament regional semifnal against Texas, the game in which Wheat sprained an ankle, spelling doom for the fnal against North Carolina. Sims, who had 17 points when Wheat went down, momentarily erased the shock with a circus dunk and went on to score 25. The guard led the team in rebounding that season and had 85 steals, fve fewer than Peyton Siva's record 90 last year. Post-college, Sims played in Venezuela, Greece, Italy, France, England, Lebanon, Iran and Cyprus, and now lives in Conover, N.C. Eastern High's Herbert Crook was the afterthought freshman when U of L's 1984-'85 season opened. Everybody was talking about 6-11 Barry Sumpter and the newest kid from Camden, N.J., Kevin Walls. (Wagner and Thompson were previous Camden recruits.) Crook was a skinny forward whose body looked out of its league. But he earned the starting job in his sophomore season and, even though overshadowed by Wagner, Thompson and freshman phenom Ellison, became an effective double-fgure scorer and assist man with a knack for offensive rebounding. In a key 1986 Sweet 16 matchup with North Carolina, Crook totaled 20 points (10 for 10 free throws) and nine rebounds. In the Elite Eight against Auburn, he racked up 20 and 11. Against LSU in the semi, his numbers were 16 and nine. He never reached the NBA, playing in Finland, Belgium, Sweden and Switzerland before retiring to work at professionalservices provider Aramark in Bowling Green, Ky., where he lives. 38 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 12.13

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Louisville Magazine - DEC 2013