Central Michigan University Athletics
Hoop(s) Dreams
6/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
June 19, 2003
By Don Helinski
Associate Sports Information Director
Tim Kisner's professional basketball career has taken him from hometown hero to 1,000 miles from home.
The Hopkins native helped his hometown Grand Rapids Hoops of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) to the league championship game in March.
This weekend, the former four-year starter for the Central Michigan University Chippewas is wrapping up regular season play with the United States Basketball League's (USBL) Oklahoma Storm in Enid, Okla.
"Playing at a higher level was always a goal for me since I was a kid," the 6-2 guard said. "It's fun to get paid to play basketball.
"It's a good experience every night. I get to play against guys who have been in the NBA and that allows me to measure myself against them and see how I can get better. I try to take something out of every game."
After graduating from CMU in 2001, Kisner spent a year substitute teaching and working on his game while looking for a chance to play overseas. In the fall on 2002, Kisner tried out for the Hoops and he was invited to a free agent camp.
Kisner was initially cut from the season-opening 10-player roster but an injury forced the team to offer Tim a position.
"I was shocked when I got cut because I thought I played well enough to make it," he said. "When I came back, the rest of the guys on the team were telling me how I should have never gotten cut. But, everything has just worked out well since then."
Kisner started 28 of the team's 42 regular season contests and averaged 5.2 points and 4.5 assists per game. He helped lead the Hoops to the CBA championship game where they lost to Yakima, 117-107.
"The season was pretty long and we had our ups and downs," Kisner said of the Hoops experience. "We peaked at the right time and the playoff experience was a great one. All of us players were glad because we were able to make more money and it was my first real professional playoff experience where everything was magnified and even the small things were important. It took everybody really focusing on what we were trying to do."
Kisner was contacted by several teams in various leagues towards the end of the CBA season, and even though he was drained, the former Chippewa took his game to the USBL's Oklahoma Storm. He arrived in Enid on a Tuesday just before the team's first game that Friday.
Tim has started all but one game for the Storm this season and is averaging 10.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 8.6 assists per game. He ranks second in the league in assists and seventh in steals (2.0). Oklahoma is fourth in the nine-team league entering the final three games of the regular season.
Following the USBL season, Kisner is hoping to take his game overseas.
"I don't want to rule out anything," he said. "But I'm hoping to go overseas and play because that's where the money is at."
Kisner hit several game-winning shots and free throws in his four years as a starter at CMU.  | |
A personal difference between the leagues for Tim is that in Grand Rapids he was able to live at home with his parents. But, in Oklahoma, he lives in a room at a Best Western hotel with a fellow teammate. There's also the difference of having a throng of family and friends at the Grand Rapids games where he would give out around 50 tickets per game.
"It was fun to play in front of people you knew and then after the game hang out with everybody," Kisner said. "It was like those Saturday games at CMU when everybody would come up and afterwards we'd hang out all night."
Not being near home also has its positives as well.
"When I was with the Hoops and living at home, I didn't spend as much time with the guys on the team," he said. "But in Oklahoma we live and eat together and I'm with a great group of guys, so it's been a lot of fun.
"Another thing that's been enjoyable is that some of my former CBA teammates play for different teams in the USBL. One week we were teammates and two weeks later we're battling each other. It's great to see them again and a lot of times we'll go out to eat after the games and talk."
Kisner was also reunited with a familiar face last week when former CMU teammate David Webber signed with the team.
"David just got here and we're playing the same position so I'm trying to help him out," Kisner said. "When one of us is on the bench we'll see things different than the one who is on the floor, so we'll share that with each other. We've also talked about the old times a bit."
Speaking of old times, Kisner followed his Chippewas closely this past season. He attended a few games, such as the road win at Western Michigan and the opening games of the MAC tournament in Cleveland, but he wasn't able to stick around for the tournament final because he was in the CBA playoffs.
"It was fun following the guys this season," Kisner said. "I mostly kept track of the team on the Internet and by watching for scores on ESPN's Bottom Line. When J.R. (Wallace) hit the halfcourt shot to beat Ohio I stayed up all night hoping it was on ESPN's College Hoops Tonight.
"I bet my CBA coach dinner that we'd beat Creighton in the NCAAs and fortunately the Arizona-Gonzaga game went into overtime and delayed our Duke game a little so I was able to watch the second half from the airport on our way to the CBA championship game."
Kisner was one of the key contributors in helping lay the foundation for the CMU program's turnaround and the 2001 and '03 MAC titles. His play on the court, and more importantly his leadership on and off it, set the standard for those who followed.
"It makes me proud on the outside, all the success the program has had," he said. "Chris (Kaman), J.R., and Mike (Manciel) worked hard and they deserved everything they got. They were able to reap all the benefits. It also makes smile on the inside knowing that they actually listened."
