Concordia St. Paul senior basketball player reflects on newfound success in final season of sport
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Antwan Kimmons is a 6-foot super senior point guard who has been scoring in bunches this winter as the Golden Bears are experiencing newfound success.
"He's different," Golden Bears head coach Matt Fletcher said. "He plays at a pace that you can't really replicate. He's as physical of a player as I've ever seen, especially at the guard position. He loves physical contact. He absorbs it and he scores through it."
Kimmons is not big, but he gets to the rack. He's averaging in the mid-20 points per game this season for a high-scoring Golden Bears squad.
"Anytime I can get to the basket and get a shot up, I like my odds, whether it's left hand, right hand, right hook, left hook," Kimmons said. "Doesn't matter."
It's been a journey for Kimmons that began just down the road. He grew up in St. Paul, went to Tartan High School and then played at Division I Northern Iowa for three seasons. After that, life brought him home.
"Once I realized I was gonna be a dad and it set in and got closer to my daughter being born, I made that decision to come back," Kimmons said. "I was just happy to come back and be a dad. I wasn't even worried about basketball. Basketball was the last thing on my mind."
Kimmons transferred to Concordia St. Paul for the 2022-23 season. Last season he broke his back. Seven months of no basketball forayed into one last run this season. Now, Concordia St. Paul has finally turned it around after nine straight losing seasons.
"If we can continue to do the little things right, the season can go for as long as we want it to go," Kimmons said. "We can play for two more months or we can play for three more months."
The Bears are conference contenders as Kimmons closes a chapter.
"Being able to be at this point in my life and do this for the school and change the narrative of Concordia St. Paul basketball, it's amazing for me and it's super emotional," Kimmons said. "That's why every day here, it's getting closer to coming to an end because I'm a senior and I'll be gone next year. Just giving it my all and making sure I'm doing everything I can to not let this pass me by."
