Daniel (Danny) Basavich (September 25, 1978 – May 2023) was an American professional

pool Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a roc ...

player. Born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York, he spent much of his life in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. He acquired the nickname "Kid Delicious" after defeating a player monickered "Kid Vicious". Basavich grew up in

Manalapan Township, New Jersey Manalapan Township (, ) is a Township (New Jersey), township in western Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is centrally located within the Raritan River, Raritan Valley Region and is a pa ...

. He died on either May 15 or 17, 2023, at his later home in Manchester, New Jersey.

Professional career

Basavich was a notorious road player who hustled pool games across the country, but later decided to compete professionally in tournaments after becoming too well known to continue hustling. In 2004, Basavich was named "Rookie of the Year" by the United Pool Players Association. He made his first television appearance in the 2005 WPA World Nine-ball Championship, beating Hsia Hui-kai in the preliminary stages. He made another appearance at the 2005 Skins Billiards Championship. Basavich nearly won that tournament, but Santos Sambajon defeated him after winning the lag for last part of the sudden-death game and from the . In November 2004, Basavich defeated Corey Deuel as the Glass City Open in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

, in a televised match where he broke and ran nine consecutive racks of

nine-ball Nine-ball (sometimes written 9-ball) is a discipline of the cue sport pool. The game's origins are traceable to the 1920s in the United States. It is played on a rectangular billiard table with at each of the four corners and in the middle o ...

, resulting in a score of 10–2. He was defeated by Charlie Bryant in the finals.

L. Jon Wertheim L. Jonathan Wertheim (born 1970 in Bloomington, Indiana) is an American sports journalist and author. He is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated magazine and has been part of the full-time SI writing staff since 1997 He has covered tennis, mixed ...

wrote an article in ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' about Basavich in its 2004

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

edition entitled "The Amazing Adventures of Kid Delicious and Bristol Bob". Wertheim subsequently wrote a book on Basavich's adventures entitled ''Running the Table: The Legend of Kid Delicious, the Last Great American Pool Hustler'' which was released in September 2007. In 2005,

Lions Gate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...

entered into negotiations for a feature film to be loosely based on the life of Danny Basavich. In 2006, Basavich released the first in his new line of billiards tutorials, ''The Kid Delicious Advanced Clock System and Banking Secrets'' produced by Pooljax productions.pooljax.com
, ''PoolJax Productions. The Official Kid Delicious Website''.

Filmography

* ''The Kid Delicious Advanced Clock System and Banking Secrets DVD'' (2006) * ''Big Time Delicious Racking Secrets and Ultimate Pro Shotmaking DVD'' (2007)

Titles

* 2005 Blaze 9-Ball Tour Championship * 2005 Ocean State Championship * 2004

Sands Regency J Resort, formerly the Sands Regency Casino Hotel, is a casino hotel in downtown Reno, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Jacobs Entertainment, Jacobs Entertainment, Inc. History The property that is now the J Resort was first opened in Febru ...

9-Ball Open

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basavich, Danny American pool players 1978 births 2023 deaths Living people Sportspeople from Brooklyn Sportspeople from Manalapan Township, New Jersey Place of birth missing (living people)