Five Minutes With Former Mizzou Guard Kim English

Patch caught up with Kim English Tuesday afternoon at Parkway North High School, between sessions of a two-day summer basketball camp that bears his name.

English, who arrived at Missouri as a guard for Mike Anderson, finished his career in Columbia for Frank Haith as something of a catch-all, often filling in on the inside as the Tigers accounted for an injury to Laurence Bowers in the 2011-2012 season.

English just completed his first season in the NBA for the Detroit Pistons but was released a few weeks ago. At the end of the first session, English and his fellow counselors, current Tiger big men Ryan Rosburg (Marquette) and Zach Price, who transferred from Louisville, and former Tigers Keith Ramsey and Justin Safford, were peppered with questions from grade school campers.

"Where do you live? Do you have a shoe named after you? Favorite team? Do you have a girlfriend? How many stars did you have?," they asked.

After signing autographs and handing out accolades to the campers, English talked with Patch about some of those same questions.

On wanting to teach kids about adversity:

English: "It's kids of all different talent levels here and just want to show them--they think I'm the greatest player ever, if I'm experiencing adversity with my basketball career then it's no problem for them to experience the same adversity be it not being able to do ball-handling drill or if they get cut from the middle school team or if they don't quite make it to a college team, always keep working and hard work definitely pays off.

On the "star" system used by recruiting analysts, reporters and fans to measure high school players with college or pro potential:

English: "I was a three star recruit on Scout, 4 star on Rival but those stars mean nothing...literally...stars only mean something to the people that make them and I guess the fans....once you step foot on a college court, after high school a star means nothing. I couldn't even imagine saying how many stars they were in an NBA training camp or whatever."

As for his own NBA future, he's waiting for some other chips to fall:

English: "Gary Neal, Brandon Jennings, Gerald Henderson, some really good players still haven't signed, so once those guys figure out where they're going it will be the next wave of players that will sign their deals. Some teams are showing interest. Philly, Minnesota, Charlotte are three possibilities, but we'll see. I just got to get back to work and make sure I'm ready so when my name is called, I do know where I'm going I'm ready to go."

About his time playing for the Detroit Pistons:

English: "Detroit was a great learning experience for me but I didn't really get a chance to play a lot so, but I learn from that and the next time I step on the court I'll be sure I'm ready to do what I need to do make sure I can leave my mark on an organization the same way I did at Missouri."

Missouri basketball fans have seen high school players like Chaminade's David Lee and Bradley Beal, and more recently Otto Porter and Ben McLemore leave the state to play in college. English said Haith's staff wants the next round to end up in Columbia, even as the team recruits nationally.

"I know Coach Haith is serious about locking those guys up and making sure they stay home," English said. "I'm excited to see the next crop of kids that come up and I'm pretty sure that they'll end up at Missouri."

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