Way Back Wednesday: Here's Hoping Kaufmann Has Many Good Days Ahead
Illinois Prep, College Basketball Legend Battling Health Problems
Andy Kaufmann could fill it up as well as anyone who ever played high school and college basketball in Illinois.
The burly 6-foot-6 Kaufmann was darn near unstoppable in the late 1980s at Jacksonville, about 35 miles west of Springfield, and still ranks as the second-leading scorer in state history. Then he went to Illinois and became one of its most prolific scorers while hitting one of the most memorable shots in program history 30 years ago.
So, it was a shock to see the news posted on Facebook last week by Kaufmann’s sister that Andy, who is in his early 50s, was just released after four weeks in the hospital for a DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) emergency. DKA is a serious complication of diabetes that can be life-threatening. She said he still has a way to go with speech, occupational and physical therapy and will need dialysis three times a week, but that he is happy to finally be returning home, which is fantastic to hear.
Nick Vlahos, a longtime friend from Peoria and literally one of the state’s biggest hoop fans and writers at 6-8, recalled that Kaufmann’s last high school game for Jacksonville was an 86-66 loss in the 1988 Class AA supersectional to Manual at the Peoria Civic Center. He thought the Peoria Journal Star headline on one of the stories was “Tough Night for Andy.”
I told him it was “Bad End for Andy” because it was the headline on my game sidebar while prep writing legend Bob Leavitt wrote the main game story. Kaufmann was going to be a focal point for everyone - including future Illinois coach Lou Henson sitting courtside - with an average of 33.4 points a game and a state-record 72 consecutive 20-point games.
Especially Manual’s defense as legendary head coach Dick Van Scyoc, who passed away last summer at 98, ran a steady stream of defenders at Kaufmann to wear him down. Which they did as Kaufmann was held to his lowest point total, 14 on 4-for-14 shooting, in three varsity seasons for Jacksonville. He played his freshman year at Routt, which was the small Catholic school in town.
“They were strong, quick and fast,” Kaufmann said afterward. “I wasn’t in scoring position too much. I got real tired. They just ran us to death. And when (your shots) are going around and falling out, it frustrates you even more.”
It didn’t hurt Manual that if Kaufmann got by one of his dogged defenders it had 6-6 David Booth waiting inside to protect the hoop. Booth, who had a tremendous career at DePaul, may have looked like a stringbean but he was a dominant force. He had 40 points and 13 rebounds to lead a team to Champaign that finished third with a semifinal loss to champion East St. Louis Lincoln and future NBA veteran LaPhonso Ellis.
Kaufmann finished his prep career with 3,160 points and only future Illini standout Chico Vaughn scored more with 3,358 at Tamms in southern Illinois from 1954-58. Jamie Brandon, who was part of the King dynasty in Chicago in the 1980s and ‘90s, is third with 3,157 and Glenbrook North’s Jon Scheyer is fourth at 3,034.
Looking back, it’s also impressive that Kaufmann wa
s able to look ahead toward his goal of stepping in right away and helping an Illinois program on the verge of something special.
“I’m really looking forward to getting started,” he said. “It’s a new mountain, so to speak, for me to climb. With the 3-point shot, I think I can fill a slot Illinois doesn’t have right now. I want to play as much as possible and fill in wherever they need me to.”
The supersectional game added to some doubts swirling around about his ability to make an impact at Illinois. He quickly disproved them in what turned out to be a bit of a star-crossed career in Champaign.
He was averaging 4.3 points a game off the bench for the iconic 1988-89 Flying Illini Final Four team. But after 12 games a blood clot was discovered in his left arm and his season was over.
Kaufmann rebounded to average 10 points a game as a sophomore and as a junior he was the leading scorer at 21.3 points a game and a second-team all-Big Ten selection. A 46-point game is still No. 2 in program history and tops for a U of I player at the State Farm Center (then Assembly Hall). Then came another jolt when he had to sit out the 1991-92 season because of academic ineligibility.
Kaufmann returned for his final season to average 17.3 points and finish with 1,533 points for his career, which was fourth in school history at the time and now ranks 13th. Three of those points are part of an iconic moment that occurred 30 years ago on Feb. 4 in an even more heated rivalry game than usual with Iowa at Assembly Hall.
The controversy between then Iowa-assistant Bruce Pearl and Illinois star Deon Thomas was still roiling in Champaign. Pearl secretly taped a conversation with Thomas when he was at Simeon that led to an NCAA investigation. The NCAA found no wrongdoing by Illinois and Thomas but slapped the school with a one-year postseason ban for “lack of institutional control.”
The Illini appeared to be headed to a demoralizing loss when a miss by Moline grad Acie Earl hit Thomas’ arm and somehow bounced off the backboard and through to give Iowa a 2-point lead with 1.5 seconds left. Illinois called time and T.J. Wheeler, a high school quarterback from Christopher in southern Illinois, made like Kurt Kittner as he rifled a pass from the baseline into the frontcourt. Kaufmann came off a double screen, made a leaping grab, took a dribble and launched a 25-footer in front of the Illini bench that swished through and led to a mob scene where he was piled on by his teammates.
“I’ve always dreamed of winning a game on the last shot, just like this,” Kaufmann said in the Daily Herald story by Bob “Lefty” Logan. “It finally happened.”
Here’s hoping more moments of joy like that happen for Andy Kaufmann. One with an endgame well off in the distance for one of the state’s basketball greats.