KU Basketball: Scot Pollard to be on Survivor

Former KU basketball star and NBA player cot Pollard will be in the spotlight again, or rather the sunlight, as he is a cast member in the upcoming 32nd season of Survivor.

From the hardwood to the jungle. Scot Pollard will see if he can have as much success on Survivor as he experienced with as a KU basketball player.

Pollard played for the Kansas Jayhawks for four years, beginning with the 1993-1994 season. He enjoyed tremendous success while on campus.He scored 1,209 career points, averaging 9.4 a game. In his last three seasons, he averaged more than ten points an outing. He pulled down 850 rebounds for the Jayhawks.

His career numbers show how valuable he was in his time at Kansas. Pollard scored 1,209 career points, averaging 9.4 a game. In his last three seasons, he averaged more than ten points an outing. He also pulled down 850 rebounds for the Jayhawks.

While at Kansas, Pollard won 115 games and lost just 21. The best season in his time at KU was his senior campaign when the Jayhawks went 34-2 but lost int he Sweet Sixteen to the Arizona Wildcats, who went on to win the championship.

Pollard was selected in the first round as the 19th overall pick by the Detroit Pistons in the 1997 NBA Draft. He played 11 seasons in NBA for five different teams. He played in 506 NBA games, starting 99,  and scored 2,222 points, averaging 4.4 a game.

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The outgoing Pollard was known as much for his often outlandish hairstyles as he was for blue-collar play.

Any Jayhawk fans who watched the historic and stunning Survivor season finale and live reunion on Wednesday, and paid any attention to the preview of the upcoming season 32 of the stalwart reality show, would have picked out Pollard instantly.

In his aside soundbite for the preview, Pollard referred to himself as a “caveman” and declared that it was “time for a caveman to win“.

Numerous sports celebrities have been on Survivor but none has done well. Gary Hogeboom, a back-up NFL quarterback, was the first. According to Survivor Wikia, he is known for being the first person to find and play an immunity idol. He finished in seventh place and made it to the jury.

Other sports figures to appear on Survivor include MLB pitcher John Rocker (quickly ousted), NBA forward Cliff Robinson (finished 14th), second baseman Jeff Kent (10th), NFL lineman Brad Culpepper (15th), offensive lineman Steve Wright (10th), and wide receiver Grant Mattos (8th).

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Legendary NFL coach Jimmy Johnson was a castaway and finished 18th, and Miami Marlins President, David Samson was the first voted off the island his season.

In Survivor season three, Ethan Zohn, a personable, professional soccer player, won his season, played in Africa.

Other than Zohn, most of the sports stars didn’t fare well. Hogeboom finished the highest at seventh. Though eventual winner and Kansas City resident Danni Boatwright recognized Hogeboom (she worked in sports radio), he denied his sports history to his cast mates.

Others have also been able to hide their identities for awhile, but once it becomes known they were in sports, they become targeted.

They are usually physical, used to intense competition, plus the prize is a million dollars, and other castaways will hold the sports figures’ careers against them, figuring the athletes (and coach and executive) have earned their money already.

Scot Pollard will stand out on a beach. He’s 6’11” and is covered with tattoos. If there are any basketball fans at all in the island, they will probably recognize him. Even for non-sports fans, seeing a guy that big, it will not be hard to do the math.

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Pollard will have to win with personality if he is to have much of a chance. Luckily, the big man has personality!

Not only did Pollard display his fun-loving character in his playing days, he is used to being in front of a camera. He is a television personality in Indianapolis, one of his many NBA stops, and he is working on a budding movie career.

He had a small role in Kevin Wilmott’s “Jayhawkers“, and is starring in Wilmott’s upcoming film on the underside of the NBA, “The Association“.

KU basketball fans should be extra interested in the upcoming season of Survivor, which is using the theme of Beauty versus Brains versus Brawn. Let’s assume Pollard is on the Brawn team.

His personality may give him an opportunity, but it will be difficult to overcome the perceptions of his fellow castaways in regards to the money aspect.

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Scot Pollard should make watching the upcoming season of Survivor even more fun or fans of the show and KU basketball fans. Rock Chalk Jayhawks!