Kim’s long journey to stardom

Chris Yemma

Before immigrating to British Columbia, Canada when he was 11 years

old, Brian Kim would frequently be awakened in the middle of the

night by his older brother Chris to watch Michael Jordan electrify

his opponents.

In Seoul, Korea, from the mid-1980s to the ‘90s, Kim’s brother was

part of an underground following of the NBA, a following that would

play street games during the day and watch the real thing on

television at around 3 a.m.

But Chris decided the street basketball culture in their “ghetto

area,” as Kim described it, was too dangerous for his younger

brother.

Chris was only delaying the inevitable, though.

Now a 6-foot-5 junior at Vanguard University, Brian Kim is the

leading scorer on the Lions’ men’s basketball team. He is fourth in

the Golden State Athletic Conference, averaging 16.3 points per game.

He is also averaging 3.1 rebounds, leads the team in steals with 16

and his free-throw shooting (71 of 82 for 86.6%) ranks third in the

conference.

But in Korea, before uprooting everything and leaving his friends,

some of his family and his entire culture behind, Kim was a soccer

player.

He had to be. He was skinny, short and, most of all, his brother

had predetermined the street basketball lifestyle in the area they

lived in was too dangerous for him to be involved in.

And then it all changed. In 1994, because of financial reasons,

the Kim family packed up, left everything behind and moved to British

Columbia.

“It was kind of uncomfortable -- there weren’t many Asians there

at first,” Kim said. “It was kind of like a culture shock. I was

really young, but it was probably even worse for my brother.”

When Kim arrived, he didn’t know but one sentence of English --

how to ask to go to the bathroom -- something his brother had taught

him. His first experiences in the classroom, he recalls, weren’t the

greatest memories.

“I had a couple of times when I was suspended for getting in

fights,” he said. “I thought [other students] were making fun of me.

I just didn’t understand what they were saying.”

It took a couple of years and a few learning experiences before

Kim broke through the language barrier. Meanwhile, through all of the

heartaches of missing Korea, his friends and his grandparents, he was

starting to find an outlet through basketball.

His brother had tried to keep him away from it in Korea, but it

was creeping into his life in British Columbia.

And that’s when his first real growth spurt came. He shot from 5-2

to 5-8 in eight months and, by the summer after seventh grade, he was

dunking. That’s also when his brother decided to pull out all the

stops and become Kim’s basketball mentor.

Chris saw the potential Kim possessed and catered to it.

“My brother made sure I knew the fundamental skills,” Kim said. “I

made the basketball team in ninth grade. My first game ever, I think

I had two dunks. I don’t know how I did it.

“My parents were there and they were like, ‘What the heck is going

on?’ Ever since, my dad came to all of my games. He thought I was

going to play soccer.”

Soccer went out the window and it was all basketball from there.

His senior season at Walnut Grove Secondary School in Langley,

British Columbia, the equivalent of high school, he averaged around

30 points a game while also leading his team in rebounds and steals.

He was rated the sixth-best player in British Columbia in 2000 and

scored close to 50 points twice.

He earned a scholarship to the University of Portland. He

redshirted his first season and barely played his second season, as

his style of play did not fit into the Pilots’ offensive system.

He planned to transfer to Long Beach State or Concordia

University, but, after visiting Concordia, Vanguard gave him a ring.

The Vanguard coach at the time was Jim DeGroot. Instantly, DeGroot

and Kim hit it off.

“It was at a time when I was really depressed because it wasn’t

going well basketball-wise,” Kim said. “[DeGroot] told me exactly

what I needed to hear. It was a different speech I hadn’t heard yet.”

But DeGroot, a single father, resigned for family reasons in

September of 2003, just before Kim’s first Vanguard season was about

to begin. Vanguard Athletic Director Bob Wilson took over the

position on an interim basis.

The problem, though, was that Kim’s decision to come to Vanguard

was based on his affinity toward DeGroot. And when he resigned, Kim

had trust issues with Wilson.

“[Kim] had some bad experiences with coaches in the past and he

didn’t feel he could trust some of them,” said Wilson, who took over

the coaching position full-time this season.

“It took a while for him to trust me, but with one-on-one

communication and good leadership from all the players, it worked

out.”

After an adjustment period that took just about half of last

season, the two formed a good relationship, Kim said. Now he’s the

Lions’ No. 1 option.

“He can probably get 20 points on his own without an offense,”

Wilson said. “But we’re trying to make him more of an integral part

of the offense.”

Since he was 11, Kim has had a goal to play in the NBA.

“I always dreamed of playing in the big league” he said. “It’s

still a dream, but if I can’t, I could go back to Korea and play in

the Korean Basketball League. Hopefully I could make the Korean

national team and compete in the Olympics.”