Carl Krauser

Carl Isaac Krauser (born May 13, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for the Quebec Kebs of the National Basketball League of Canada.

Krauser was born on May 13, 1981, to Joyeria Mays and musician Mario Krauser in the Bronxdale housing projects in The Bronx, New York, where he lived with over 3,500 other people.

By the time he was 13, basketball was a large part of his life.

Krauser talked about his competitive drive in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article about his peers at the time, "When they lost, they went and got an Icee or a juice. When I lost, I wanted to go play again."

He was also known for taken 1000 jump shots every night for practice.

He went to dangerous neighborhoods to play at his Boys and Girls club and Rosedale "The Big Park" in the Bronx, and played streetball at Rucker Park.

One nickname he had while living in New York City was "Black Magic".

Krauser also played with other players who found success in their basketball careers including Seton Hall's Andre Barrett and former Duke star and NBA player Jay (Jason) Williams.

Krauser's career took another step when he made the New York AAU team, the Broncos.

When Krauser was 17, he had to repeat his junior year of high school, but instead of repeating the year at Stevenson High School, where he did not make the freshmen basketball team, he chose to attend St. Thomas More Prep.

Krauser left St. Thomas More Prep in Connecticut and switched to Notre Dame Academy in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.

After performing better academically, Krauser was heavily recruited by Hofstra and the University of Pittsburgh.

Jamie Dixon, then the assistant coach at Pitt, was able to recruit Krauser successfully.

In his final game at Notre Dame Prep, Krauser scored 51 points.

Outside of basketball, Krauser was 2-0 as an amateur boxer.

Carl was known for his trademark symbol he made where after scoring a basket, put his hands over his head in the shape of an "X" and claimed it was to represent the Bronx.

He was a point guard for the University of Pittsburgh Panthers from 2001 to 2006.

Krauser is 6 ft and weighs 200 lb.

Krauser's first season at Pitt was the 2001-2002 basketball season.

Carl was redshirted for his actual freshman season by former Pitt coach, future UCLA head coach, Ben Howland.

After spending his first season at Pitt as a redshirt, Krauser came into a stronger Pitt basketball program with guards such as Julius Page and Brandin Knight.

In Krauser's first playing season, he averaged 6 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game.

Krauser had 93 assists in this season, which was the fourth most all time at Pitt by a freshman at that time.

Krauser was also named the Most Improved Player at the team's banquet that year.

The Panthers made it into the NCAA Tournament in 2002, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to Kent State.

Krauser's sophomore season showed marked improvement from his freshman year.

He received an All-American Honorable Mention by the Associated Press, the Big East's Most Improved Player, and All-Big East second team honors.

Pitt chose him as the team's Most Inspiration Player and the best Free Throw Shooter.

Krauser led the team averaging 15.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game in 2003-04.

Carl helped to lead the Pitt Panthers to a berth in the NCAA tournament, where the Panthers again made the Sweet Sixteen before falling to the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

In his junior year, Krauser was the leader of team.

Pitt had lost both Jaron Brown and Julius Page to graduation, and Krauser was now the floor general for younger players such as freshman guard Ronald Ramon.

Some highlights from that season include 31 points against the University of Richmond Spiders, 5 steals against Robert Morris University, and 15 assists against West Virginia.

Krauser received the John Wooden Award in his junior season and was also named as a Naismith All-American and a Bob Cousy Award finalist.

He was honored by the Big East with two player of the week awards and by being named to the Second-Team All Big East.

Krauser led the Panthers to another NCAA Tournament berth as a 9th seed where they lost to 8th seed University of the Pacific.

In the offseason, Krauser entered the 2005 NBA draft but removed his name without hiring an agent so he could retain his NCAA eligibility and play his fifth and final college season at Pitt.

Krauser was included in a Sports Illustrated article where he was ranked as one of the top 10 point guards in the nation, and at midseason was predicted to be selected in the NBA draft.

Pitt finished its non-conference season at 11-0 after beating the then No. 22 Wisconsin Badgers by 9 points.

Pitt was one of the final seven teams as of January 3 to be undefeated.