Rosemont's Finest: Kleinschmidt's 4-Point Play Beats Louisville
1/18/2017 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
CHICAGO - There were 12 seconds left on the clock. DePaul was facing the Louisville Cardinals at the Rosemont Horizon (Allstate Arena) in a huge game for the men’s basketball program. The Blue Demons knew they badly needed a win to keep their hopes alive of making the NCAA tournament. They were down 81-78 and needed the rarest of basketball occurrences---a four-point play---to win the game.
Tommy Kleinschmidt was a 6-foot, 5-inch shooting guard from Gordon Tech on the North Side and the Blue Demons’ best player. It was his senior year and he had continuously made a statement on the court. He was known as a “blue-collar” player and did everything from driving in the lane, shooting the jumper, rebounding the basketball, and leading the team both on and off the court.
With 11.4 seconds left on the clock, Kleinschmidt stepped behind the three-point line and pulled up for a shot with Louisville’s appropriately named Tick Rogers hounding him on defense.
Kleinschmidt buried perhaps the biggest shot of his collegiate career and Tick nicked Kleinschmidt’s elbow, sending the Blue Demon guard to the free-throw line and a chance for that game-winning four-point play.
Kleinschmidt calmly walked up to line, took a deep breath, and swished the free throw that had every fan in complete shock in the 82-81 victory.
Louisville’s DeJuan Wheat then went down the court, pulled up for a 15-foot jump shot that ricocheted off the basket and was rebounded by DePaul’s Brandon Cole as the clock finally ran out of time. The Blue Demons began celebrating a huge victory as they maintained their bid to make the NCAA tournament.
That memorable moment was one of Kleinschmidt’s all-time greatest in his time at DePaul (1991-95). He grew up on Chicago’s northwest side and went to Gordon, which is now called DePaul College Prep. He was the kid from Gordon with the golden shooting touch.
After adapting to the college game as a freshman, Kleinschmidt had his coming-out moment as a sophomore against Memphis State in a 95-93 loss in double overtime at the Rosemont Horizon, since renamed Allstate Arena.
“When coach Joey Meyer told me I’d be guarding Penny Hardaway, that really got me going,” Kleinschmidt said about the collegiate standout who would go to play in the NBA. “I kept up with him, and that game gave me the confidence to go on and have a good career.”
Indeed, after David Booth led the Blue Demons in scoring for three straight seasons (1989-90 to 1991-92), Kleinschmidt took over that distinction for the next three years. And all of his family members, friends and former schoolmates continued watching him play.
“It was great to have my family support me throughout my career,” Kleinschmidt said. “I was a neighborhood kid and they all took care of me. Everyone from back home supported me and took care of me, so in return I took care of them.”
Kleinschmidt knew that DePaul would bring him an experience that no other school could offer.
“DePaul was fantastic at basketball and I grew up with them,” Kleinschmidt said. “I got to watch guys like Mark Aguirre and Terry Cummings and those were my idols. I was going to get to play under the Meyer name, and I had a close-knit relationship with athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto. DePaul had so many pluses, and it was just an offer I couldn’t turn down.”
Kleinschmidt’s father worked at the DePaul Settlement House and Tommy grew up watching the Blue Demon’s on WGN-TV, a superstation that televised many Blue Demon games nationwide at a time before national cable telecasts.
He became a hero for the Blue Demons---a three-time, All-Great Midwest Conference First Team pick, conference Player of the Year and AP honorable mention All-American as a senior. He was the first conference Player of the Year winner in Blue Demon history. Kleinschmidt scored 1,837 points in his career and was the also the first in DePaul history to score over 1,000 points with 500 rebounds, 300 assists, 100 steals, and 100 three-pointers.
Of those many impressive statistics, Kleinschmidt will never forget the four points he scored in the waning moments against Louisville.
“It’s tough. When something good happens to you as a team or individual, everything is really slow,” Kleinschmidt said. “I felt like it was quite---I felt alone and everything went slow. You hear that all the time. Most who hear about it but haven’t been through it don’t understand that it is instinctual.
“Fortunately, the shot went in, and I finished it off with a free throw which was very nerve-wrecking but at the same time kind of peaceful. It had become habit to me. It was a total team effort, and guys like Brandon Cole, Peter Patton, and Bryant Bowden trusted me. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
As the Blue Demons play their last season at Allstate Arena, Kleinschmidt reflects on the memories he will hold onto forever.
“It is bittersweet,” he said. “I watched all of those great players play and I never knew I would be the next one on the court. I have seen it all in Rosemont, and there has been some great history and games in that arena.
“There are the games I will never forget, but it is also sweet that we are moving forward and having a chance to play in a new arena next season (Wintrust Arena), attract new student-athletes, and although I am very excited about the future---I will never forget the past.”