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Missouri's Kareem Rush (21) puts the stop on driving UCLA player Billy Knight (3) in second half action during the men's west regional semi-final game at the San Jose Compaq Center
Jack Gruber - USA TODAY Sports
After graduating from Pembroke Hill in Kansas City, Kareem Rush traveled east to Columbia to join his home state school, the Missouri Tigers.
And Rush instantly became a key piece for a team looking to restart a run of success after the resignation of longtime head coach Norm Stewart.
Rush was the first big-time prospect brought in by new leader Quin Snyder for the 1999-2000 season and the 6-foot-6 forward jumped in immediately.
“He told me he was going to come in and help me and allow me to be a foundational piece of the program,” Rush said on The Unwritten Rule podcast. “... It was a match made in Heaven. Me and Quin had the same birthday so we aligned on a lot of things. … I remember first day on campus, we were riding around in a drop-top Mercedes Benz and his hair was flowing and all the girls were screaming for him as opposed to me.”
He started just 6-of-22 games his freshman season, but contributed 14.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game to go with 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals per contest.
He helped lead the Tigers to an 18-13 overall record with a 10-6 record in Big 12 play as Missouri went back to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.
Then as a sophomore, he jumped fully into the starting lineup and improved his production to a Big 12-leading 21.1 points per game to go with 6.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
“All my life I was under the shadow of my older brother JaRon, an amazing player who was an amazing player, frankly the best player in the country in his class,” Rush said. “During my high school career, I was always JaRon’s little brother. My time at Mizzou was allowing me to build my own name.”
Rush’s team-leading production guided the Tigers to a 20-13 overall record with a 9-7 record in Big 12 play and a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament, giving the Tigers a third-consecutive appearance and first trip to the second round since 1994-95.
He stayed a key piece as a junior, contributing 19.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game in 36 contests.
The Tigers improved throughout the season, posting a 24-12 overall record with a 9-7 mark in SEC play, but after dropping five of their final nine games, including a second-round loss in the Big 12 Tournament, the Tigers dropped into a No. 12 seed and a matchup with No. 5 Miami.
Starting with the final game of the regular season, Rush went on one of the best scoring runs in program history. He posted 22 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in a three-point Border War loss to end the regular season, then added 17 points and four rebounds in a win against Iowa State to open the Big 12 Tournament. He added 33 points and six boards against Texas as the Longhorns knocked the Tigers out of the conference tournament, but put up 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds in an upset of No. 5 Miami to open the NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers went on to face No. 4 Ohio State and Rush had 17 points and nine rebounds to lead Missouri to a dominant 83-67 upset win.
The Tigers moved on to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1993-94 and faced No. 8 UCLA. Rush posted 20 points and nine rebounds to beat the Bruins 82-73 and pushed the Tigers into the Elite Eight.
“We had a lot of expectations coming into that year,” Rush said. “... I came back so I could get Player of the Year and do all these great things, so the year was definitely up and down. … We had that magical run, and if we didn’t have another one of our worst games of my career as a team against Oklahoma, we would have made that Final Four.”
But the magic ended in a six-point loss to the No. 3 Sooners, though Rush posted another 17 points.
Rush ended his college career with 1,584 points, while shooting 44.5 percent from the field, 42.2 percent from 3 and 77.7 percent from the free-throw line.He grabbed 456 total rebounds, dished out 174 assists and poked away 102 steals.
His 18.9 points per game is currently fourth in Mizzou history, while his 3-point percentage is fifth in Tiger history.
After his three years at Missouri, Rush went to the NBA Draft and was taken with the 20th pick by the Toronto Raptors, who immediately traded his rights to the Los Angeles Lakers.
He played a backup role on the Kobe Bryant/Shaquille O’Neal Lakers teams before being traded to the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2004-05 season. He became a more regular presence in the starting lineup for Charlotte, but a strained MCL ended his 2005-06 season and he struggled to ever recover after a groin injury extended his absence. After a year playing in Lithuania, Rush returned to the NBA, but never became a regular starter again on the Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Clippers.
Rush’s basketball career continued with teams in the D-League and the ABA through 2014, then he played in the initial season of the BIG3 League in 2017.
He ended his NBA career scoring 6.4 points per game to go with 1.7 rebounds and 1.0 assists per contest.
“It all started down at Mizzou,” Rush said. “I’ve got to have love. And I was a home-town kid so it definitely means something special to get to stay home and represent my home-town university.”
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