Christopher Michael Street (February 2, 1972 – January 19, 1993) was an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

player. He played as a

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

for the

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 20 sports, 7 for men and 13 for women; The teams participate in Division I of the Nati ...

from 1990 to 1993. A potential

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player, he died in an

automobile crash A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. Tra ...

during his junior year at Iowa.

Biography

Along with basketball, Street also excelled in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

during high school. He moved with his family to Indianola,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

in the fall of 1987 and starred on the town's Class 4A team at Indianola High School. Street committed to play basketball at

the University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 colleges offer ...

as a junior in high school. Street played in 28 games as a freshman and averaged 5.0 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. As a sophomore, he averaged 10.6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. In the first 15 games of the 1992–93 season Street averaged 14.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. In his final game he scored 14 points and collected 8 rebounds and extended his record of made free throws to 34, in a 65–56 loss to

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

. In that game his 33rd and 34th consecutive free throws set an Iowa school record. On January 19, 1993, following a team dinner at the Highlander Inn outside of

Iowa City Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's fifth-most populous city. The Iowa City metropolitan area, which enc ...

, Street was killed when he drove his car onto the highway and collided with a

snow plow A snowplow (also snow plow, snowplough or snow plough) is a device intended for mounting on a vehicle, used for removing snow and ice from outdoor surfaces, typically those serving transportation purposes. Although this term is often used to ref ...

. His girlfriend, Kim Vinton Klinedinst, was a passenger. She survived the accident. The basketball game scheduled against Northwestern the following night was postponed.

Legacy

After Chris Street died, Iowa Hawkeye men's basketball coach Tom Davis said "Chris represented all that is good about the Midwest and the state of Iowa. He was open, caring, honest, loving and lived life to the fullest every day." Chris Street's number 40 was retired by the University of Iowa's Men's Basketball team at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on February 6, 1993. At the end of each season, the Chris Street Award is given to the Hawkeye player or players who best exemplify the spirit, enthusiasm, and intensity of Chris Street. When it was announced that the award was created shortly after Street's death in 1993, Iowa Coach Tom Davis said "We want to remember everything Chris represented. He was one of the greatest Hawkeyes of all time." On February 25, 2018, Iowa Hawkeye guard Jordan Bohannon purposely missed a free throw against the

Northwestern Wildcats The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, located in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and one of two private universities in the conference, the other ...

that would have broken Street's school record, instead tying it with 34 consecutive made free throws. After the game Bohannon spoke with reporters and said, "That's not my record to have. That record deserves to stay in his name." Street is buried in the IOOF Cemetery in Indianola, Iowa.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1990–91 , style="text-align:left;",

, 28 , , , , , , .500 , , .500 , , .647 , , 5.1 , , 1.1 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 5.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1991–92 , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 30 , , 27.0 , , .564 , , .357 , , .681 , , 8.2 , , 1.8 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , 10.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1992–93 , style="text-align:left;",

, 15 , , 15 , , 26.8 , , .574 , , .222 , , .892 , , 9.5 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , .9 , , 14.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 73 , , 45 , , 27.0 , , .553 , , .313 , , .732 , , 7.3 , , 1.4 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , 9.3

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Street, Chris 1972 births 1993 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball players from Iowa Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball players People from Indianola, Iowa Power forwards Road incident deaths in Iowa 20th-century American sportsmen

Biography

Legacy

Career statistics

College

See also

References