Greg Koubek (born March 15, 1969) is an American retired basketball player best known for his collegiate career at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

between 1987 and 1991. He also played professionally overseas after college for several years.

Early life

A native of the greater

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

area, Koubek attended

Shenendehowa High School Shenendehowa High School (often shortened to Shen High School) is a State school, public Secondary school, high school in Clifton Park, New York, Clifton Park, New York (state), New York, United States. It is part of the Shenendehowa Central Scho ...

from 1985 to 1987 in Clifton Park. He led the basketball team to a state championship as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

in 1987 and later became the first athlete in school history to have his jersey number retired. Following the 1987 season he was named a McDonald's All-American, and he was the co-honoree of the Mr. New York Basketball award, given to the state's best high school boys' basketball player. Koubek finished his high school career having scored 1,972 points and grabbed 682 rebounds, both being the most in school history.

College

Duke MBB 1988-89 card - Greg Koubek front

Koubek's career playing for the

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the N ...

was an overall inauspicious one in terms of personal statistics. Through his first two seasons, he only started in one game, but he did play in all 71 contests. Between his

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

and

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

seasons he scored 312 points. Duke won the ACC tournament in 1988, his freshman year, and also made it all the way to the NCAA tournament Final Four – the first of five straight Final Four appearances. As a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

in 1990, Duke made it to the 1990 National Championship but Duke's All-American point guard,

Bobby Hurley Robert Hurley (born June 28, 1971) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils. He was previously the head coach at the University at Buffalo. As a college senior, ...

, had an intestinal flu the night of the game, resulting in Duke losing to

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

, 103–73. That score is still the worst margin of defeat in NCAA Championship Game history. Koubek played in all 38 games and started 12 of them. As a senior in 1990–91, Koubek made NCAA men's basketball history. He started in 13 games and played in all 38 of them, including Duke's fourth consecutive Final Four where Duke avenged the 1990 Championship game by handing UNLV their first and only loss of the 1990–91 season. Consequently, Koubek became the first player to ever play in four NCAA Final Fours. He also became one of very few players to appear in 145 or more career games (Koubek's 146 career games is second only to

Christian Laettner Christian Donald Laettner (, ; born August 17, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. His college career for the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball, Duke Blue Devils is widely regarded as one of the best in National Collegi ...

's 147 in Duke history.) That season, Duke won the ACC regular season title and went on to win the first of back-to-back NCAA championships. Koubek was a team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

as a senior as well.

Professional and later life

Koubek spent a short stint playing in the

United States Basketball League The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

(USBL) right after college. Afterward, he played professionally for the next six years in South Africa, Turkey, Hungary, and Japan. Koubek retired in 1997 and returned home to the Capital District of New York. Koubek became Executive Director of the Albany YMCA. He moved to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

where he served as Executive Director of Gardena-Carson Family YMCA. In addition, he runs an annual basketball camp with his brother, Tim, called the Greg Koubek Basketball Camp. In 2018, Koubek was named Executive Director of the new Triunfo YMCA in

Westlake Village, California Westlake Village is a city in Los Angeles County, California, on its western border with Ventura County. Upon its incorporation in 1981, Westlake Village became the 82nd municipality of Los Angeles County.Baker, Pam (2002). ''Thousand Oaks We ...

, opening in 2019."Greg Koubek named executive director of Triunfo YMCA"
''VC Star'' (April 25, 2018).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koubek, Greg 1969 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Hungary American expatriate basketball people in Japan American expatriate basketball people in South Africa American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Basketball players from New York (state) Duke Blue Devils men's basketball players Forwards (basketball) McDonald's High School All-Americans Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Clifton Park, New York 20th-century American sportsmen