Kenneth D. Brunner II (born December 8, 1978) is an American professional

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 ...

coach and former player. Brunner 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 the

Georgetown Hoyas The Georgetown Hoyas are the collegiate athletics teams that officially represent Georgetown University, located at Washington, D.C. The Georgetown's athletics department fields 24 men's and women's varsity level teams and competes at the Natio ...

and the Southern Idaho Golden Eagles.

Early life

Bruner was born on December 8, 1978, in Los Angeles California. His father was an alcoholic and his mother was a drug addict so Bruner was raised primarily by his grandmother in

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

. He first played

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 ...

but transitioned to

at the encouragement of his grandmother. To further develop his potential, Brunner was encouraged to attend Dominguez High School in

Compton, California Compton is a city located in the Gateway Cities region of southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county, and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth ci ...

– an hour-long bus ride away from his home but where he created a reputation by playing

streetball Streetball (or street basketball) is a variation of basketball, typically played on outdoor courts and featuring significantly less formal structure and enforcement of the game's rules. As such, its format is more conducive to allowing players ...

. Bruner was considered the nation's top

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

during his senior season. He committed to play

for the

Fresno State Bulldogs The Fresno State Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent California State University, Fresno (commonly referred to as Fresno State). The university is a member of NCAA Division I's Mountain West Conference (MW). It was a ...

but rescinded his offer when the Bulldogs received

point shaving In organized sports, point shaving is a type of match fixing where the perpetrators try to change the final score of a game without the intention of changing who wins. This is typically done by players colluding with gamblers to prevent a team fr ...

allegations in March 1997.

College career

Brunner began his college career at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

during the 1997–98 season. He started all 19 games he played for the Hoyas and averaged 11.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 7.3 assists; his assist count would have ranked seventh nationally if had played in enough games to qualify. He still holds the Hoyas' career assist average record. In early February 1998, Brunner was held out of the line-up for "personal reasons". On February 8, 1998, Brunner met with Hoyas head coach John Thompson and quit the team. Brunner flew to Fresno State University and enrolled on the last day of registration for the spring semester. Five weeks after his registration, he was sitting out the semester as a transfer when he and teammate Avondre Jones were indefinitely suspended from the team for the robbery and assault of a Fresno State student with the use of a samurai sword. Brunner denied he was involved; a judge dismissed the charges as an escalation of " horsing around". On May 24, 1998, Brunner was arrested on suspicion of

armed robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...

when he allegedly held up

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus of the U ...

basketball coach Mike Miller at gunpoint inside the school's gymnasium. Brunner was held in the LA County Jail for four months until the charges were dropped two days before the trial. He enrolled at Santa Monica Junior College but left without playing a game. Brunner transferred to play for the Southern Idaho Golden Eagles for the 1999–2000 season, where he averaged 14.2 points a game. He signed a

letter of intent A letter of intent (LOI or LoI, or Letter of Intent) is a document outlining the understanding between two or more parties which they intend to formalize in a legally binding agreement. The concept is similar to a heads of agreement, term she ...

to play for the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...

under coach Jim Harrick, but his scholarship offer was overruled by the school's president when his official academic transcripts were not submitted by the deadline. Brunner instead enrolled at Salem International University for the 2000–01 season but did not play and left to pursue a professional career.

Professional career

Brunner began his professional career with the San Diego Wildfire of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

and averaged 15.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game. He broke his leg and injured his knee which led to him playing exhibition basketball while he recovered. Brunner toured with the AND1 Live Tour across Europe and Asia in 2003 and 2004 as he earned the nicknames "Bad Santa" and "The Bad One". Brunner played professionally in Europe, Mexico and Australia. His final stint was in Australia in 2009 when he tore a ligament in his bone and forced his retirement.

Coaching career

Brunner served as the Director of Coaching for the Western Port Steelers from 2011 to 2013. He left the team due to family reasons in 2013 but returned as head coach on a three-year deal in 2014. Brunner has run coaching clinics for children in

Melbourne, Victoria Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and in Fitzroy Crossing in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

region of Western Australia.

Personal life

Brunner has four sons.

Awards and achievements

*2009 Las Vegas PRO-AM Champions (Spice1) *2008 Eurobasket Summer League Champions (Sevilla) *2007 Southern California NBA Summer Pro League Champions and All-League Selection (Play2Win Delta Jammers) *2006 Southern California NBA Summer Pro League Champions and All-League Selection (Delta Jammers-Play2Win) * 2006 ABA Western Conference All-Star Team (SoCal Legends) * 2005 Southern California NBA Summer Pro League Champions – MVP (Play2Win-Delta Jammers) * 2005 Mexican CIBACOPA All-Star game (Cañeros de Navolato) * 2004 NBA Southern California SPL All-Star team * 2002 Drafted by NBDL Asheville Altitude (14th round 3rd pick) * 2000 NJCAA National Tournament * 2000 Region XVIII tournament finalists (Southern Idaho) * 2000 Second Team Scenic West Conference All-Region (Southern Idaho)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunner, Kenny 1978 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Asheville Altitude players ABA All-Star Game players Basketball players from Compton, California BG Karlsruhe players Buffalo Sharks players Fresno State Bulldogs men's basketball players Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Point guards Salem Tigers men's basketball players Santa Monica College alumni Southern Idaho Golden Eagles men's basketball players Manuel Dominguez High School alumni