A Close Look in at Kuran Iverson - He's Not Just Allen Iverson's Cousin, He's a Big-Time
Look at his jersey number, you are seeing that right. Kuran Iverson is wearing #23, the number of Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player ever to grace the game. Rounding out the starting five for the past two seasons of Rhode Island men's basketball was Kuran Iverson, a consensus five-star recruit coming out of Fishburne Military School. As the 33rd best recruit in the class of 2013, there was massive hype surrounding Iverson, which is to be expected when you are the second cousin of NBA great, Allen Iverson.
Through his first two seasons of college basketball, many college basketball experts believed that he initially failed to live up to expectations. Due to an unfortunate situation with Josh Pastner at Memphis University, he chose to transfer and luckily, he chose Rhode Island. Following the use of the NCAA hardship waiver, he was immediately eligible to play for Dan Hurley at the very beginning of the 2015-2016 season. In his junior season, Kuran Iverson averaged 9.8 points per game, 7.1 rebounds per game, and 1.2 blocks per game from the starting center position.
While the maturation process as a person and as a player took a decent amount of time, the Connecticut native's contributions were felt in his final season of college basketball. In late November, against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Mohegan Sun, in his home state of Connecticut, Iverson came through big in his team's 76-71 win. In the HOF Tip-Off first round game, the starting center made huge baskets, a key free throw, and the closing block to beat the #23 Bearcats. Kuran Iverson was best the X-factor and wild card for URI's basketball team. When his game was on point, there was no team that the Rams could not contend with.
Another memorable performance by URI's #23 in the 2016-2017 season had to be on his senior night, the final time that he would put on a Rhode Island jersey in the Ryan Center. With the majority of the team struggling in the first half and at the beginning of the second half, Kuran Iverson helped to keep URI in the game with his veteran experience and performance. When the game concluded in a Rams victory, Iverson finished with totals of 17 points and 11 rebounds. Along with fellow senior Hassan Martin, the frontcourt duo combined for 38 points on 18-31 shooting and 28 rebounds.
In his last campaign of college basketball, Iverson averaged 9.6 points per game, 7.3 rebounds per game, and 1.3 blocks per game. By and large, Kuran Iverson was one of the fiercest players under Dan Hurley, for the past two seasons of URI men's basketball. Going forward, Iverson is a dark horse candidate to be one of the 60 draft picks in the 2017 NBA Draft.
I think I speak for the Rhode Island faithful when I say that #23 will be missed in the Ryan Center next season.
