Here’s the latest Kenny George story, from the Lynchburg paper. The UNCA Bulldogs take on the Liberty Flames at 7 p.m. tonight. UNCA will try to remain undefeated in Big South Conference play:
Asheville’s George more than just an attraction for the curious
Kenny George, basketball player.The words haven’t always existed in perfect harmony. George wasn’t always a polished player. He was more of a ? let’s choose the words carefully ? sideshow?
Just don’t call him “freakish,” not unless you want to get an earful from George’s coach at UNC Asheville, Eddie Biedenbach. The word “freak” carries so many negative connotations, and Biedenbach understandably is quick to protect his gentle giant of a center.
But George’s dimensions alone lead some to use that adjective. He’s 7 feet, 7 inches tall. Add another two inches when he’s in his size 26 basketball shoes. His 101?-inch wingspan allows him to block any shot within orbit of his massive frame.
Liberty knows this, of course. In last year’s game at UNCA’s Justice Center, George blocked six Liberty shots in a 10-minute span as the Bulldogs rolled to a huge early lead.
That was last year, though, when George barely played 10 minutes a game and had very little offensive skill other than to take a post feed and drop it into the cylinder.
As the Flames prepare to face George and the Bulldogs for a second time this season, tonight at the Vines Center, they’re well aware of the growth in George’s game.
It’s clear that George is no longer just an attraction. He’s a legitimate player, one who plied his craft over the summer at Pete Newell’s famous big man camp in California, one who has parlayed a summer of exhaustive cardio sessions into a winter of dominating minutes.
And the thought that George is simply a behemoth who stands near the basket and cherry picks? It no longer applies. In Liberty’s game at UNCA in January, George showed an array of moves around the basket.</blockquote.