Cory Underwood can boast of something many on the streetball circuit are still striving for.
The 6-foot-10, 225-pound center was invited to the Philadelphia 76ers training camp back in 2008. Underwood played for the Albuquerque Thunderbirds of the NBA Development League the season before, where he was coached by former Iona College head man Jeff Ruland, who was an assistant with the Sixers that year.
“In high school I didn’t play a lot, got into trouble here and there,” said Underwood, who attended Forest Hills. “It was real rewarding. There are a lot of guys who wish they had the opportunity to put that uniform on. I feel like I accomplished something.”
One of Underwood’s favorite moments of the month-and-a-half long stint with an NBA team didn’t happen on the court. On one of the final days of training camp Andre Miller and Andre Iguodala, who were with the 76ers at the time, told him the team bus departure time was moved back 15 minutes. Underwood said he took his time from there, went to the ATM and hit up the buffet only to find an angry coach Maurice Cheeks with arms folded waiting for him.
“I get on the bus and all the guys are laughing,” Underwood said.
He has bounced around with different teams and in different leagues throughout his professional career after playing his college ball at Southern University. The 29-year-old Underwood spent three season in the NBDL with Albuquerque, Dakota and Idaho. He averaged 11.1 points per game and 4.8 rebounds in 20 games during the 2008-09 season. He also spent time in the CBA, USBL, ABA and short three-month stay in China, where he played unaware he had torn his left meniscus in 2009. He did it in his first game and continued to play through the summer with it.
“After a week-and-a-half, two weeks, I had played four or five games with it,” Underwood said. “I was playing bandaged up and my ankle was starting to hurt. It was just a disaster.”
It is his preference to not eturn to the D-League next season, but he wouldn’t rule it out. He is hoping for a chance at another NBA camp, but knows his increasing age is working against him. He is hoping his talents earn him a spot overseas this season in places like France, Israel or Greece.
Underwood, nicknamed The Undertaker, is back on the streetball circuit again this summer playing in Nike Pro City, Tri-State, Watson and Dyckman, among others. He scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds in Queensbridge’s 92-88 win over the Uptowners at Pro City on Thursday at Baruch College. Underwood displayed a touch inside and the ability to knock down the midrange jumper..
“Me being my height and being a little mobile, I can put it on the floor, I can shoot it,” Underwood said. “It helps out a lot.”
So does having a small taste of the NBA.