Batavia Daily News Sports Editor Bill Bruton wrote a nice little piece on former Kendall star Roosevelt Bouie, which was a feature I was going to do when I had my wrist surgeries at the start of the summer.
Bouie won four consecutive Class C titles while at Kendall and conducts clinics (Bruton talked to him in Pembroke) and does radio broadcasts for the Rochester Razorsharks.
Bouie was a star in Section 5 in the mid 1970s and learned a lot from his old-school coach, Dick Reynolds.
That made an impact on the 6-foot-11 Bouie, as did something else his high school coach taught him. Reynolds expected his team to be ready to play from the opening tip-off.
"So don't go out there taking your time thinking you can get warmed up. You'd better be ready to go when the ball drops," Bouie told Bruton. "(Reynolds) said you'd better be dripping sweat or you're not warmed up."
Bouie was a recruit for Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who has been with the Orange forever. Boeheim has a career record of 771-228 in 32 seasons as coach.
Bouie had quite a career at Syracuse, with this being his bio on the team's Web site.
A second-team Basketball Weekly freshman All-American in 1977…first-team USBWA, Citizen’s Savings Foundation and Medalist All-American in 1980…first team All-BIG EAST selection in 1980…holds the records for highest field goal percentage in a season and highest blocked shots average for a career (2.8 bpg)…12th all-time in career scoring (1,560 points), sixth in career rebounds (987) and second in career blocked shots (327)…holds the freshman blocked shots and blocked shots average records…has the most blocked shots in a game by a freshman with seven (vs. Harvard and Buffalo)…second round pick of the Dallas Mavericks in the 1980 NBA Draft.
Bouie never played in the NBA. He did not feel as if the Mavericks offered enough money, so he went to Europe to play. He played for 13 seasons in Italy (two for Scavolini Resaro, seven for Riunite Reggio Emilia and two for Clear Contu). He was a legend in Italy where he was a five time all-star and holds the league record for career field goal percentage. He also won a European Championship in the 1991-1992 season.
Bouie wrapped up his career with one season playing in Oreste, Spain.
