Jon Koncak

[SMU2007]

Can someone who has followed the ponies longer than me give a quick summary of Koncak's time at smu? Was he a top recruit? Did he get national press? Did he make it in the nba? (I realize these questions can probably be answered on Wikipedia, but wanted to get some firsthand comments from the "old-er timers" about the other big time in smu hoops.

Thanks fellas

[wewiii]

He was "The Olympian". Later played for Atlanta. He was on that team under Bliss that everyone had picked to be in the Final Four. There was a player named Wright. I was. Just a kid during this...so my memory fails me. But Wright seemed to be great...and ultimately the big problem. The didn't get too far.

[Stallion]

he averaged 30 ppg and a bunch of rebounds in high school but honestly I don't think he a Top 100 type-but he had some nice offers. We were so bad his freshman year he got to play the entire game of every game. Probably scored about 9 points per game and 5 rebounds. He was awkward, gangly and unpolished. He improved more between his freshman and Sophomore year than any player in SMU History though. I think he grew 2-3 inches too. Grew into his body and became a dominant college player after that. Our star players were Koncak, Larry Davis, Carl Wright (perhaps the best athlete in SMU History) and Butch Moore. As a Senior, SMU was poised for a No. 1 ranking until losing to Texas Tech only hours after No. 1 Duke had lost that afternoon. I think we beat North Carolina, Kentucky, OU, Okie St and Arkansas and several other top teams before a bad slide late in the conference. As a Junior, SMU lost a heatbreacker to eventual National Champion 39-36 or so after controlling the game most of the way. His game really didn't translate to the NBA though although he played about 8-9 years

[PonyKris89]

Wiki...

"Jon Francis Koncak (born May 17, 1963) is a former American professional basketball player. A 7'0" center from Southern Methodist University, Koncak was selected with the 5th pick in the 1985 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks. Koncak spent ten seasons with the Hawks (1985–1995), mainly in a reserve role, then concluded his career with the Orlando Magic. He retired in 1996 with career totals of 3,520 points and 3,856 rebounds.

Though a reliable defender for much of his career, Koncak is perhaps best remembered for the six-year, US$ 13 million contract he received from the Hawks in 1989 – an unprecedented total for a reserve. The deal was roundly criticized since it paid Koncak more than Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. His large contract prevented the Hawks from taking part in any other major free agent signings for several years. As a result, he earned the derisive nickname "Jon Contract."

On February 23, 2008 SMU retired Koncak's jersey. Koncak is an Eagle Scout."

I remember him going toe to toe with Patrick Ewing, played him tough. it was a real white knuckler brawl of a game.

I thought he was a starter when he received that big contract, but by that time, I wasn't really paying attention.

[mrydel]

Koncack got what was at the time an outrageous contract renewal for I believe $10 million. Many thought it was unwarranted and way too high for his impact but I believe it was instrumental and a large factor in the rapid rise and increase of the contracts you see today. I believe it was Sports Illustrated that did a cover page article on the contract and whether or not it was worth the money. Just my thoughts.

[pwnyxpress]

As I remember, Jon's biggest adversaries in college were Joe Klein at Arkansas and Akeem Olajuwon at Houston. I think they all started at the same time so they had four full years of battling each other. It seemed like Jon always won the statistical battle against each of them but I guess if I was hanging my hat on that then the wins against them might have been less frequent.

[Terry Webster]

I was living in Atlanta in the 90's when he played there. While he never became the kind of player we hoped he would be, he became a pretty good substitute and defensive center. Had three or four good years for the Hawks. I remember all of the griping after his big contract when Detroit went after him. Atlanta threw a ton of money (at the time) so that he would stay. I think every pro player who got a big contract was very thankful for Jon.

[ebrooks11]

Where is he now?

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[ponyinNC]

His NBA nickname was "Jon Contract"

[bubba pony]

Odd story. I remember when he was being recruited another school had a famous basketball alum write him a letter encouraging him to enroll there. He spelt his first name JOHN and he took that as a slight that that school did not do their homework. Should have known he spelt it JON.

I was living in Philly at the time and went to see Jon and SMU lose to Ivy League U of Penn. I and one other women had SMU shirts on in the stands. I shouted out to Jon and he acknowledged my SMU shirt.

[mustangxc]

Where is he now?

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Last I heard, he was living in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

[Nacho]

he wasn't the most agile player (hence the nickname concrete) we ever had but at 7' he was a dominant low post player in college.
shaq loves to credit koncak with the escalation of salaries in the nba.

[lwjr]

That team that was on the verge of being ranked number one in the country until the loss to Tech in Lubbock. After the Tech game I don't know what happened but as Stallion said they went into a tailspin and never recovered. I think they were bounced out of the NCAA tournament in the second round that year. Maybe Dave Bliss lost control of the team or something to that effect. I was never a fan of Dave Bliss, he came across to me as a slick salesman selling snake oil.