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After wining a championship for Cupertino High School, Kurt went on to play for the Santa Clara Broncos. He added his hustle, hard work and talent to a Santa Clara team that needed Kurt to push them over the hump. Santa Clara was a school that the quirky Kurt fit right into. Rambis' residence was a converted Travelodge Motel the university purchased. Rambis lived upstairs in room number 206. Living by himself gave him the freedom to house his aquarium, fish, plants and hamster. Legend has it that Kurt worked one summer as a driver for a beer distributor. When he would get finished each day, he would stash the remaining beer cases in his room...until before he knew it he had a full room of beer. Not a big drinker, Kurt was happy to sell some of it to underclassmen (none of this violated any SCU, or NCAA rules).

As far as his sport, "Kurt always understood the intricacies of the game. He was smart, and basketball was very important to him," said his SCU coach, Carol Williams. "The good ones are obsessed. And Kurt literally made himself into a good player. He would get angry if a teammate didn't complete an assignment. Kurt would never test you as a player, he would never be late or be irresponsible." Anyone who attended SCU at the time can still envision him walking around the campus in his white T-shirt and a Pacific Trail jacket every day.

Given this history, it's easy to see why people have to be astounded to watch him evolve from a gangly kid at Cupertino High into a muscular gym rat at Santa Clara into a cult figure as an NBA player into a sideline pacer in expensive suits.

"Somebody's gotta be giving him those suits," said SCU baseball coach Mike Cummings, "I think he still has the meal money from the basketball trips his junior year.------------------------

I was able to make these images thanks
to Tony Arellano, CHS class of '76,
who contacted and borrowed these
pictures from Santa Clara University
Media Relations...who were very nice
to lend them to us.

Excerpts from Mark Purdy's 4-14-99
San Jose Mercury column were
used in my write up.