Kevin Kunnert knew he was going to the NBA.

When you’re seven-feet tall and have the basketball ability he had, the path to the professional level was quite clear, especially in the 1970s.

But first Kunnert, a Dubuque native, wanted to go to Iowa.

“I went down there, got good coaching, and I worked hard at it, because I knew I could pull it off,” Kunnert says of his NBA ambitions. “I basically felt like every time I walked out of that gym, I’d gotten better that day.”

Kunnert dominated with the Hawkeyes. He was the program’s most valuable player in 1972 and 1973, and he set a school record with 48 double-doubles, including 20 in 1973 and 19 in 1972. He averaged a double-double in his career with 15.9 points and 12.7 rebounds, and he is one of seven players in program history to have three seasons of 200 or more rebounds.

“I really never worried about scoring any points,” he says. “I basically wanted to get every rebound and block every shot. I could have had a lot bigger numbers, but I got in a lot of foul trouble with that idea. I had a hard time with people shooting layups at my basket and not going after them.”

Kunnert parlayed his Hawkeye career into a shot at the NBA. He was a first-round pick of the Chicago Bulls in the 1973 NBA Draft, as well as the second pick overall by the San Antonio Spurs in the ABA Draft that year.

The Bulls traded Kunnert to the Buffalo Braves before the season started, and he ended up playing nine seasons for Buffalo, the Houston Rockets, the San Diego Clippers, and the Portland Trail Blazers before a knee injury ended his career.

“I could have played another year, but I wasn’t happy with my level of play, because you can’t play center in the NBA with a leg that wants to collapse,” Kunnert says. “But I really enjoyed the NBA. It’s a grind and you’re happy to get out, but a year later, you’d give anything to get back in. You kind of lose your identity.”

After retiring with the Trail Blazers, Kunnert settled in Oregon, where he still lives today.

By John Bohnenkamp