UMKC Hall of Fame Spotlight: Darecko Rawlins
1/17/2012 1:00:00 PM | General, Athletics
During the time Darecko Rawlins played basketball at UMKC in the mid 1990s, a documentary movie came out called "Hoop Dreams."
The film chronicled two inner-city Chicago high school players whose dream was to play in the NBA. Essentially, they saw college basketball as a step to get them to the NBA instead of college being the road leading to a multitude of opportunities in many different avenues.
When Rawlins arrived at UMKC in 1992 as the last in the Lee Hunt Memphis pipeline, he said he did not have any "Hoop Dreams."
"I played basketball strictly for the love," Rawlins said. "Fortunately, I was good enough athlete/player where people noticed my talents and wanted me part of their team or organization.
"Even after my senior year at UMKC I really didn't think basketball would take me anywhere. I was just happy to have had the opportunity to play at that level and get an education."
Rawlins' days at UMKC has led to a rich and rewarding life and it has little to do with the money he has earned playing professional basketball in the European Leagues for over 10 years.
Besides experiencing different European cultures, Rawlins teaches. He is currently a junior high teacher at an international school in Uppsala, Sweden.
Rawlins tells his students and the players he coaches about what playing a sport for the pure love can actually provide.
"I felt lucky that someone actually wanted to pay me to do something I love to do for free every day," he said. "When you play a sport for the love, people will notice and the opportunities will come."
Rawlins was definitely noticed when he played at UMKC. In Rawlins' junior season, UMKC finally joined a conference and he immediately made an impact. He became the first Kangaroo to earn first team All Mid-Continent Conference player. He earned second-team honors his senior season and helped UMKC to a third place finish.
"When UMKC first got into a conference it was Darecko who put UMKC on top in the Mid-Con," said Ed Grom, former UMKC assistant athletic director.
"Darecko and Tony Dumas are probably the two best leapers in the program's history. He did a really good job."
Darecko was so good that he landed a spot on UMKC 2011 Hall of Fame Class.
"It's an honor to make any Hall of Fame, but to make it at a school that I almost left after my first year of school is more amazing to me," Rawlins.
Rawlins did not jump from one college to another, trying to find the perfect fit. Before his sophomore year, he realized he was meant to be a Roo for life.
His play on the court still puts him among the school best. Despite standing 6-foot-5, or 6-6, he attacked the boards with a vengeance.
John Denison, co-owner of Niles Media Group, summed up Rawlins in one word.
"Tough," said Denison, who has produced most of the UMKC games that have been televised in the Kansas City area.
"He was explosive. He was a long arm dude and that was before people started calling basketball players long. He got a lot of rebounds. He was very much an above-the-rim player."
Rawlins left UMKC in 1996 with the career record of 639 rebounds. The record stood until 2011 when it was broken by Spencer Johnson.
Rawlins was much more than a rebounding machine. He ranks eighth in scoring with 1,076 points and is the record holder for most double-doubles with 19.
When Rawlins thinks back to his days at UMKC, he has nothing but fond memories. He got to play against future NBA players such as Chauncey Billups, Erik Dampier and Brian Skinner.
"I always loved the atmosphere at the Roo pit," he said.
Basketball remains very much in Rawlins' blood.
"Nowadays," Rawlins said, "I still play for fun and to help develop the youth team in the European second division as a player/coach."
Grom said it is awesome that Rawlins had such a great career in Europe.
"A lot of former UMKC players played in Europe and they spread the word about UMKC," Grom said.
Denison added, "I can think about a lot of guys at UMKC like that. If you play well in college, you are going to get an opportunity to play professionally.
"Spencer Johnson is playing. David Robinson played forever and Michael Jackson, Quinton Day and of course, you cannot forget about Mike English. He is a YouTube god over there in Europe.
"They all say it was a great experience."
Rawlins is proof of it.