Basketball legend David Kool to enter WMU Hall of Fame
South Christian Athletic Director David Kool plays in an alumni basketball game on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - When David Kool got the call that he was going to be inducted into the Western Michigan University Athletic Hall of Fame, he was happy and surprised.
But what took so long?
“A lot of people are asking me that,” he said with a laugh. “But I try to remind ‘em that I’m still pretty young. You can be up for it once you are 10 years out of college. I guess it was my time.”
Kool, 37, graduated from WMU as the basketball program’s all-time leading scorer with 2,122 career points. He was the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year his senior year in 2009-10 when he led the conference in scoring at 21.6 points per game.
What was his favorite memory of playing at WMU?
“I would say my favorite memory on the court was when I broke the school scoring record,” he said. “I vividly remember that day. All my family was there.”
On Jan. 27, 2010, he surpassed Manny Newsome’s mark of 1,787 from 1961-64.
South Christian Athletic Director David Kool hands a regional football championship trophy to Seth Ritsema on Nov. 4, 2022. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
Kool graduated from Grand Rapids South Christian High School as one of the most decorated prep players in Michigan. He won two state championships and was named Michigan Mr. Basketball in 2006. He is the Sailors’ all-time leading scorer with 1,853 career points.
But his road to playing at Western Michigan wasn’t a direct route. He had his sights set on playing at Michigan State University.
But then he got hurt.
“When I was playing AAU with the Michigan Mustangs, I was getting heavily recruited by Michigan and Michigan State, among other schools,” Kool recalled. “But it was my dream to play for one of those two schools.”
But it was MSU that Kool loved early on. They had a full-ride offer on the table.
“I would be over at Michigan State often during my freshman and sophomore years,” he said. “I’d be at open gyms, going to football games … and became really close with them. When I tore my ACL my senior year, conversations became less and less. Then they said ‘you can be a preferred walk-on,’”
He had a long-standing offer from WMU, too. And they never wavered in their belief in Kool.
“Western always stood by my side and kept my offer,” Kool said. “And that meant a lot to me. It didn’t hurt that I grew up in Kalamazoo. So I had a soft spot for Western.”
After his college career ended, he was on Steve Hawkins staff at WMU for a few years. Then he was the varsity high school basketball coach at Jenison and Holland Christian.
He has been the athletic director at South Christian since 2020.
The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be at WMU’s Miller Auditorium in October.
