Fennis Marx Dembo (born January 24, 1966) is an American former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played

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 ...

for

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, where he won several accolades and had his number 34 jersey retired. He started his professional career with the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

and with them won the

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 ...

championship in 1989. As a member of the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

, he won silver at the

1987 Pan American Games The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

College career

Dembo was barely recruited out of high school in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, but caught a break when he was sought out by

's then head coach Jim Brandenburg, who had previously been a high school coach in that city (and would later retire to San Antonio). Dembo's campus visit was the first time he had seen snow; he went on a

snowmobile A snowmobile, also known as a snowmachine (chiefly Alaskan), motor sled (chiefly Canadian), motor sledge, skimobile, snow scooter, or simply a sled is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. Their engines normally ...

trip as part of the visit, and would remember in a 2009 interview that he had a gut feeling that Wyoming was for him. At Wyoming, Dembo had a successful career, finishing as the leading scorer and rebounder in Cowboys history. He accumulated 2,311 points and 954 rebounds. He was part of the Cowboys team that qualified for the finals at the 1986 National Invitation Tournament. The following year, the Cowboys qualified for the Sweet Sixteen of the

1987 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1987 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 1987, and ended with the champio ...

. At the 1987 NCAA Tournament, Dembo was the leading scorer, averaging 27.8 points per game. Dembo appeared on the cover of ''

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 ...

'' dressed as a

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

. He was the first basketball player from the University of Wyoming to be featured on the SI cover. He was inducted into the University of Wyoming Athletics Hall of Fame on October 29, 1993. His number was retired and hosted up in Wyoming's Arena Auditorium during half time on December 7, 2019.

Professional career

Dembo was selected by the

in the second round (30th overall) of the

1988 NBA draft The 1988 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1988, in New York City, New York. The length was reduced from seven rounds in the previous year to three rounds. This was also the first draft for the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat, prior to their i ...

. He played for the Pistons during the 1988–89 season, averaging 1.2 points and 0.7 rebounds in 31 games. Following his stint in the NBA, Dembo played for several years in Europe, South America and the CBA, retiring in 1998.

Later life

He then bounced between several jobs, including a stint as a prison guard in Alabama. After separating from his second wife, he moved in with his mother in San Antonio, and found employment as a maintenance person for the San Antonio Water District. Early on Easter morning in 2003, a man broke into Dembo's house while he and his mother were sleeping. Dembo grabbed a gun and faced the intruder, warning him to stop and leave. When the intruder failed to stop, Dembo shot and killed him. No charges were filed against Dembo, but he was shaken by the incident, fearful for a time to talk to others or to leave his room. He ultimately was able to move on from the shooting with counseling and time. His job with the Water District sparked an interest in engineering, and he began taking courses in the subject when his schedule allowed. In the autumn of 2009, he enrolled full-time at St. Philip's College, a community college in San Antonio. In the fall of 2009, he was enrolled at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Name

Dembo's unusual first name came from a suggestion by an older sister, Zona. He and his twin sister Fenise were the 11th and 12th children in their family. Zona preferred that they be the last children in the family, and suggested they be named after ''finis'',

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

for "finish".

Awards and honors

* First Team All-Western Athletic Conference (1986, 1987, 1988) * Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year (1987) * NCAA basketball tournament record (Best Free Throw Percentage in One Game – 100%) * Inducted into the University of Wyoming Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993

References

External links

Fennis Dembo Remains a Name to Remember
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dembo, Fennis 1966 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball players at the 1987 Pan American Games Basketball players from San Antonio Chorale Roanne Basket players Detroit Pistons draft picks Detroit Pistons players Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in basketball Power forwards Rapid City Thrillers players Shreveport Crawdads players Small forwards Basketball players from Mobile, Alabama Wyoming Cowboys basketball players