Meet Kelvin Kim
With the Bruin Men’s hoops squad opening conference play yesterday with a solid victory over Stanford, we now look to this year’s roster to pick out that one standout player whose year we will cover closely along the road to the Final Four.
Losanjealous readers, meet Kelvin Kim.
Kim, a 5′11″ guard, is a walk-on from El Toro High, but lest you think he is the Bruins’ “Rudy,” let us recap his impressive prep school resume. Averaging 14.6 points and 5.2 assists, Kelvin was named First Team All OC by the OC Register his senior year. In addition, he was the 2004 South Coast League MVP. Kelvin developed a reputation for his big game clutch shooting. Witness this write-up in the Register:
Kim helps Chargers hold off Cougars
The senior powers El Toro past Capistrano Valley and to a share of the South Coast League title.
By K.J.M. SINGLETON
Special to the Register
LAKE FOREST – Kelvin Kim isn’t a surgeon. He just plays one on the basketball court.
El Toro’s senior guard scored five points in the final 1 minute, 24 seconds of the game to lead the Chargers to a 51-50 victory over Capistrano Valley Wednesday night at El Toro High.
“He’ll just cut heart out,” Capistrano Valley coach Brian Mulligan said…
“He’s the man,” El Toro coach Todd Dixon said. “I need to clone him.”
Yet, despite his documented success at El Toro, he has had a number of detractors. Chatter on the SoCalHoops.com message boards earlier this year expressed doubts about his ability to play at the next level:
>>>Heard quite a bit about him… how good is he? Is he being recruited?
>>>He was good against Dana. But he is like 5′2″. He is a firecracker, but way too small to play basketball at anything but a JC or lower level college. I am sure he can go to a higher level school on academics. Whatever he plans on after HS, I wish him the best.
>>>No disrespect to Kelvin Kim, because he is a great student and individual, but Kim will never play a game at the next level, unless it is intramurals.
>>>Kim will not play at a UC or Division 1 school. Kim might get accepted because of his grades, and more power to him, but he will not play.
No doubt those guys are eating crow now while Kelvin dons the blue and gold. He’s already become a Pauley Pavillion fan favorite. His energetic entrance into a game in it’s final minute is met with thunderous cheers, signifying that the Bruins have the game in hand. It won’t be long before the expression “When Kelvin’s in the game” overtakes “When the fat lady sings.” You heard it here first.
Kelvin’s line against Stanford:
________________TOT-FG__3-PT__________REBOUNDS
## Player Name____FG-FGA_FG-FGA_FT-FTA_OF_DE_TOT_PF_TP_A_TO_BLK_S_MIN
22 Kim, Kelvin_____0-0____0-0____0-0_____0__0__0___0__0_0__0__0__0__1
….and he’s a lot cuter than hoffart. keep us up to date on his stats and your news reporters
The torch has been passed from Sean Farnham to John Hoffart and now to Kelvin Kim. When Kim scores his first point at Pauley the place is going to erupt.
Insert Lorenzo Mata between Hoffart and Kim in the Bruin lineage of those fan favorite bench warmers. Last year, Mata inspired a fanclub and even his own T-shirt, so Kim deserves at least as much. Let’s get it going here, people.
I played against Kelvin Kim in the Men’s Gym tonight and let me tell you he is a very good player. Although I blocked his shot so hard once that I thought he wet himself, he was way better than anyone else on the hardwood. His cuts the defense like Nash and his jumper even smells like butter. Watch out!
I LOVE K.K. HE’S MY HERO!!!!!!
Kelvin Kim’s first year with Bruins: 2005-06
Bruins’ first Final Four in 11 years: 2005-06
Draw your own conclusions.
Kelvin Kim is better than any player in college basketball today, he is just underestimated by his appearance.
Kelvin Kim is amazing!!! I saw him and got his autograph. He is so much bigger in person!!! He’s like 6′7″, they have him undersized in his profile. KK LOVE!
[...] But missing amidst the amber glow of sweet victory was the familiar site of Kelvin Lee, a 5′ 11″ sophomore guard, the pride of Korean basketball community and Losanjealous favorite. In fact, after taping and slo-mo-ing the early a.m. FSW2 replay like the Zapruder film, Kelvin is no where to be seen on the bench. Drawing upon my journalistic skillz, I scoured the UCLA Atheletic Department website for the next 4 hours, only to find that Kelvin Lee is NOT listed on the ‘06-07 roster. See for yourself, in this unmodified “screen shot”: [...]