Adam Emmenecker

Adam Cannata Emmenecker (born December 3, 1985) is an American basketball player who completed his college career as a point guard at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa in 2008.

During the 2007–08 basketball season, Emmenecker, who had been a walk-on (non-scholarship player) for his first three years at Drake, emerged from obscurity to lead the Bulldogs to a sweep of the regular-season and tournament titles in the Missouri Valley Conference, and received numerous honors for his performance as both a player and a student.

Early life Emmenecker was born in Saginaw, Michigan.

While at Arthur Hill High School in Saginaw, Emmenecker was a two-sport star, starting for and captaining the basketball team for three years and earning all-league honors twice in baseball. His high school basketball statistics were those of a pass-first point guard—8.4 assists per game as opposed to only 4.7 points per game. He also averaged 5.9 rebounds and 3.2 steals per game. In his senior season of 2003–04, he led his team to a 22–2 record and a ranking of #25 in that year's final USA Today national high school basketball poll. Emmenecker was an honorable mention all-state player in Michigan's Class A, and was also named Arthur Hill's outstanding graduate of 2004. He received a Presidential Scholarship, and also walked on to the basketball team. Emmenecker did achieve a personal milestone two days before the Bulldogs started their season. After three years as a walk-on, he was given a full athletic scholarship for his final season. They added the MVC tournament to their regular-season crown, securing their first NCAA tournament bid since 1971 and their first postseason berth of any kind since the 1986 NIT. The Bulldogs went on to lose an overtime heartbreaker in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Western Kentucky on a long three-pointer at the buzzer by Western's Ty Rogers. In his final competitive game, Emmenecker struggled with his shooting from the field, going 0-for-10, but still got a double-double with 11 points and 14 assists.

The former walk-on emerged as a major star in Drake's Cinderella season. Although he averaged only 8.5 points per game for the season, his average in MVC regular-season play was 10.3. Emmenecker's contributions in other facets of the game proved much more important than his scoring. His 6.45 assists per game led the MVC by more than one per game, and he set a single-season school record for assists. He was also among the league's top five in steals and assist-to-turnover ratio, and in the league's top 10 in minutes played, free throw percentage, and—somewhat surprisingly for a point guard—offensive rebounds.

Emmenecker became the MVC's most-decorated player of the 2007–08 season: He was named as the captain of the MVC's All-Improved Team, joining Drake teammates Jonathan Cox and Leonard Houston on that team. In addition, he was named the Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year. and won multiple national Coach of the Year awards:

We thought that maybe by his senior year he could start for us. But I never had any idea he could do this. He's exceeded all of our expectations, kind of like our team has.

Jethro’s Challenge Jethro's BBQ, a local eatery chain in Des Moines, named a food challenge after Emmenecker. It consists of a cheeseburger topped with bacon, Texas beef brisket, fried cheese cubes, white cheddar sauce, buffalo chicken strips, a pork tenderloin, all on a bun topped with a spicy pickle. It is accompanied by one pound of waffle fries. This entire meal must be consumed in 15 minutes to win. This challenge was featured on the Travel Channel show Man v. Food and the Flemish tourist show Reizen Waes.

Academic accolades Emmenecker's accomplishments on the court in 2007–08 were arguably eclipsed by his academic record. As of February 2008, he carried a 3.97 grade point average in three majors—management, finance, and entrepreneurial management. He was chosen as the 2008 Academic All-American of the Year in men's Division I basketball by the College Sports Information Directors of America, and was also named the MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in men's basketball.

Pro career

Basketball Bundesliga Emmenecker played for the Deutsche Bank Skyliners in Frankfurt, Germany in 2008–2009.