Carl Krauser

Carlos Isaac Krauser is an American basketball player. He was a point guard for the University of Pittsburgh Panthers from 2001 to 2006. Krauser is ft in to m|6|2 and weighs lb to kg|200. He currently plays professionally with the Pittsburgh Xplosion of the Continental Basketball Association.

Carl's Background

Krauser was born on May 13 1981 to Joyeria Mays and musician Mario Krauser in the Bronxdale housing Projects in The Bronx, New York, where he lived with over 3,500 other people. By the time he was 13, basketball was a large part of his life. Krauser showed unbelievable drive as he spoke of in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article about his peers at the time, "When they lost, they went and got an Icee or a juice. When I lost, I wanted to go play again." He was also known for taken 1000 jump shots every night for practice. He braved extremely dangerous neighborhoods to play at his Boys and Girls club and Rosedale "The Big Park" in the Bronx. Carl even played streetball at the legendary Rucker Park. One nickname he had while living in New York City was "Black Magic" and during his play at the legendary Pathmark basketball summer tournaments he gained the nickname "The Black Booger" for his tenacious defense.

Krauser also played with other players who found success in their basketball careers including Seton Hall's Andre Barrett and former Duke star and NBA player Jay (Jason) Williams. Krauser's career took another step when he made the New York AAU team, the Broncos. When Krauser was 17, he had to repeat his junior year of high school, but instead of repeating the year at Stevenson High School, where he didn't make his freshmen basketball team, he chose to attend St. Thomas More Prep. Krauser left St. Thomas More Prep in Connecticut and switched to Notre Dame Academy in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. After performing better academically, Krauser was heavily recruited by Hofstra and the University of Pittsburgh. Jamie Dixon, then the assistant coach at Pitt, was able to recruit Carl successfully.

Outside of basketball, Krauser was 2-0 as an amateur boxer.

2001-2003

Carl was known for his his trademark symbol he made where after scoring a basketball, put his hands over his head in the shape of an "X" and claimed it was to represent the Bronx.Krauser's first season at Pitt was the 2001-2002 basketball season. Carl was redshirted for his actual freshman season by former Pitt coach, now UCLA's head coach, Ben Howland. After spending his first season at Pitt as a redshirt, Krauser came into a stronger Pitt basketball program with several great guards such as Julius Page and Brandin Knight. In Krauser's first playing season, he averaged 6 points per game, 2.8 rebounds per game, and 2.9 assists per game. Krauser had 93 assists in this season, which was the fourth most all time at Pitt by a freshman at that time. Krauser was also named the Most Improved Player at the team's banquet that year. The Panthers made it into the NCAA Tournament in 2003, going all of the way to the Sweet Sixteen where they fell to Kent State University.

2003-2004

Krauser's sophomore season showed marked improvement from his freshman year. He received an All-American Honorable Mention by the Associated Press, the Big East's Most Improved Player, Big East second team honors. Pitt chose him as the team's Most Inspiration Player and the best Free Throw Shooter. Krauser led the team averaging 15.4 points per game, 4.9 rebounds per game, and 4.5 assists per game in 2003-04. Carl helped to lead the Pitt Panthers to a berth in the NCAA tournament, where the Panthers again made the sweet sixteen before falling to the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

2004-2005

In his junior year, Krauser was the leader of team. Pitt had lost both Jaron Brown and Julius Page to graduation, and Krauser was now the floor general for younger players such as freshman guard Ronald Ramon. Some highlights from that season include 31 points against the University of Richmond Spiders, 5 steals against Robert Morris University, and 15 assists against West Virginia University. Krauser received the John Wooden Award in his junior season and was also named as a Naismith All-American and a Bob Cousy Award finalist. He was honored by the Big East with two player of the week awards and by being named to the Second-Team All Big East.

Krauser led the Panthers to another NCAA Tournament berth as a 9th seed where they lost to 8th seed University of the Pacific. In the offseason, Krauser entered the 2005 NBA Draft but removed his name without hiring an agent so he could retain his NCAA eligibility and play his fifth and final college season at Pitt. Krauser was included in a Sports Illustrated article where he was ranked as one of the top 10 point guards in the nation, and at midseason was predicted to be selected in the NBA Draft.

2005-2006

Pitt finished its non-conference season at 11-0 after beating the then No. 22 Wisconsin Badgers by 9 points. Pitt was one of the final seven teams as of January 3rd to be undefeated. Krauser went on to lead Pitt to a 21-6 regular season, and Pitt finished 6th in the Big East. The Panthers would go on to lose the Big East Championship game against Syracuse. The Orange made the finals after winning three games in three days. Krauser finished the regular season with 15.0 points per game, 4.7 assists per game, and 4.3 rebounds per game. As a 4 seed, Pitt lost in an upset to #13 seed Bradley in the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament -- Krauser's last game at Pitt. Though he struggled down the stretch with his shooting touch, he remained the emotional leader on a quickly maturing team. Krauser wore number 11 while at Pitt in honor of Isiah Thomas.

Professional career

Krauser is playing the 2007-2008-Season as a member of the Pittsburgh Xplosion, of the Continental Basketball Association. He is be joined by former Pitt player John DeGroat. Antonio Graves, another Pitt alum, was on the Xplosion, but he now plays in France.

External links

* [http://pittsburghpanthers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/pitt-m-baskbl-main.html Pittsburgh Panthers Basketball]
* [http://PittsburghXplosion.com Pittsburgh Xplosion Website]