Carl Krauser

High school career Krauser was born on May 13, 1981, to Joyeria Mays and musician Mario Krauser in the Bronxdale housing projects in The Bronx, New York, where he lived with over 3,500 other people. By the time he was 13, basketball was a large part of his life. Krauser talked about his competitive drive in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article about his peers at the time, "When they lost, they went and got an Icee or a juice. When I lost, I wanted to go play again."

Krauser also played with other players who found success in their basketball careers including Seton Hall's Andre Barrett and former Duke star and NBA player Jay (Jason) Williams.

College career

2001-2003 Carl was known for his trademark symbol he made where after scoring a basket, put his hands over his head in the shape of an "X" and claimed it was to represent the Bronx. and All-Big East second team honors. Pitt chose him as the team's Most Inspiration Player and the best Free Throw Shooter. Krauser led the team averaging 15.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game in 2003–04. Carl helped to lead the Pitt Panthers to a berth in the NCAA tournament, where the Panthers again made the Sweet Sixteen before falling to the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

2004-2005 In his junior year, Krauser was the leader of team. Pitt had lost both Jaron Brown and Julius Page to graduation, and Krauser was now the floor general for younger players such as freshman guard Ronald Ramon. Some highlights from that season include 31 points against the University of Richmond Spiders, 5 steals against Robert Morris University, and 15 assists against West Virginia. Krauser received the John Wooden Award in his junior season and was also named as a Naismith All-American and a Bob Cousy Award finalist. He was honored by the Big East with two player of the week awards and by being named to the Second-Team All Big East.

Krauser led the Panthers to another NCAA Tournament berth as a 9th seed where they lost to 8th seed University of the Pacific. In the offseason, Krauser entered the 2005 NBA draft but removed his name without hiring an agent so he could retain his NCAA eligibility and play his fifth and final college season at Pitt. Krauser was included in a Sports Illustrated article where he was ranked as one of the top 10 point guards in the nation, and at midseason was predicted to be selected in the NBA draft.

2005-2006 Pitt finished its non-conference season at 11–0 after beating the then No. 22 Wisconsin Badgers by 9 points. Pitt was one of the final seven teams as of January 3 to be undefeated. Krauser went on to lead Pitt to a 21–6 regular season, and Pitt finished 6th in the Big East. The Panthers would go on to lose the Big East Championship game against Syracuse. The Orange made the finals after winning three games in three days. On January 23, 2006 Krauser scored a career-high 32 points against Syracuse. Krauser finished the regular season with 15.0 points per game, 4.7 assists per game, and 4.3 rebounds per game. As a 5 seed, Pitt lost in an upset to #13 seed Bradley in the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament—Krauser's last game at Pitt. Though he struggled down the stretch with his shooting touch, he remained the emotional leader on a quickly maturing team. Krauser wore number 11 while at Pitt in honor of Isiah Thomas.

On August 22, 2014, it was announced that Krauser would be joining the Steel City Yellow Jackets of the ABA.