Kim English eats, sleeps, and breathes basketball

We all remember those t-shirts that said "Eat, Sleep, Play basketball." All the cool kids at basketball summer camp wore them (me), even the ones that weren't all that good (me again). And while I've always been a basketball junkie, be it my ten year old self that proclaimed it with a t-shirt or the 25 year old version that promotes an addiction through the intrawebs, my love for the game pales in comparison to the devotion of Missouri's Kim English.

The Tiger's leading scorer last season, English is renowned for his work ethic. Nothing keeps him out of the gym. Not the need to sleep in a bed -- he's made a habit of dragging a leather recliner into the Mizzou Arena locker to sleep on. Not even the flu could keep English at home.

"I'm actually watching them play pickup now," English told us this afternoon over the phone. "I'm on the [stationary] bike. I'm sick right now, I got the flu. But I couldn't actually not come to the gym, so I'm watching them play on the bicycle."

He's not kidding either.


There were more than a handful of times during our chat when English stopped a train of thought to yell instructions or words of encouragement to his teammates.

That's impressive, considering English sounded more clogged up on the phone than Billie Joe Armstrong.

For English, dedication and hard work have never been a problem.

"When I started playing when I was 13 I wasn’t good at all," English said. "I just could shoot, I could always shoot. But my father told me if I wanted to be good, I would have to work. Whether it was the playground or the gym, I just always outworked people. I knew that, honestly, when I started playing I wasn’t the most talented but I knew I would outwork guys. I’m confident, but my confidence comes from my preparation."

"I just know that if websites, or anybody, or the numbers say a guy is better than me, I’m going to put in the work to prove that I’m better than him."

Saying you want to work hard and want to reach your full potential is one thing. Actually putting in the work is a different story. It takes countless hours of busting your ass in the weight room and the pain threshold to bang out those last two squats when you're an hour into a plyometrics workout. It requires the patience to do the 10 or 20 or 100 reps it takes to perfect a new move, and the commitment to spend untold hours alone, in a gym, putting up jumpers and dribbling a basketball.

Everyday.

And based on what English's schedule was like this summer, he must be part cyborg. The young man apparently does not need to sleep. His day started before the newspaper is thrown on your stoop, with an alarm clock that says "National Champions, 2011" rousing him at 4:50 am. Then after some breakfast, and maybe even a nap, it was time to break down film -- classic games, old Missouri game tapes, even youtube highlight videos of guys like Ray Allen, Rip Hamilton, and Steph Curry, the pros that English tries to model his game after -- before heading back to the gym for his second workout of the day. After another break in the afternoon, English was back in the gym, either playing pick-up or getting in a late-night workout.

It would start over again the next morning.

At 4:50 am.

I'm exhausted just typing that.

And this was his summer "vacation".


English's father may have planted the seed of the benefits of hard work, but it was the words of an assistant coach that helped English's work ethic bloom, allowing him to blossom into the player he is today.

"He said your talent gets you to the level you play at," English said. "Your hard work gets you on the court. Your commitment and consistency will take you to the elite. I know I'm good enough, I know I work hard enough, I know I'm going to play."

"The next step is to work and try to perfect my craft. To be the best player I can be."

English took a big step towards that goal last season, taking advantage of an expanded role in Missouri's offense and seeing his scoring average jump from 6.5 ppg as a freshman to 14.0 ppg as a sophomore. His game centers around his jump shot, a stroke that is about as pretty as you will see at this level. As Draft Express puts it, his jumper is the most NBA-ready skill in his arsenal.

Being the leading scorer for a Big XII team that won 23 games and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament is impressive, but English has not yet come close to his ceiling. As his ball-handling improves and he becomes more comfortable as a slasher, English will only see his draft profile get stronger.

On the court, there is still plenty of room for English to grow.

I'm not so sure the same can be said for English off the court.

Rudyard Kipling was one of the most popular writers of the 19th and 20 centuries. In 1907, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature, becoming the first English language writer to win the award. To date, he is still the youngest person to ever receive a Nobel Prize in Literature. Among Kipling's most famous works is the poem "If". "If" is particularly popular among the British, and one of the poem's lines is written above the player's entrance of Wimbledon's Centre Court.

Now, I wouldn't blame you if you've never heard of this poem, or Rudyard Kipling, before.

I have.

The last time we wrote about English, it was because of a series of tweets he posted, taking lines from "If" and relating them to basketball. It was impressive, to say the least. English, who was introduced to poerty by former teammate Zaire Taylor and learned about "If" from Missouri football player Wes Kemp, reads the poem every day when he wakes up.

Its not often that you come across a college student, let alone a star athlete, that dabbles in 19th century British poetry.

Kim English may never make it in the NBA. Professional sports are a fickle business, and unfortunately there are quite a few talented athletes in every sport that never get a chance to showcase what they can do.

Few things in the world of sports are a certainty.

But does anyone want to bet against English working his way to the league?