When David Kravish first stepped on the California campus as a student back in 2011, the freshman was listed at 6’9” and 207 pounds. In an ideal world, maybe the raw and impossibly skinny recruit out of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, would have had a chance to wear a redshirt, spend a year hitting the training table and prepping for wars on the block against Pac-12 bigs with some time on the scout team. But with senior Harper Kamp the only battle-tested big man on the roster, Richard Solomon’s maturity problems and Kravish’s willingness to scrap and a serviceable little 10-foot jumper, he was welcomed right into 24 minutes per night against high-major competition. This meant that skin-and-bones Kravish was forced to go toe to toe around the league with upperclassmen like Brock Motum (230 pounds), Jason Washburn (245), Tony Woods (250), Aziz N’Diaye (260) and Joe Burton (280). All Kravish did that season was what little he was asked to do: rebound the ball; bust his butt on defense; set some picks; and make the simple plays. When it was all said and done, he averaged 6.9 points and 5.6 boards per game, and posted a 118.4 offensive rating while shooting a 59.4% eFG, good for 60th in the nation.
Kravish’s four years of collegiate eligibility have now mostly come and gone and his body now pays great testament to all the hard work and dedication he’s put into it. He’s now listed at 6’10” and 240 pounds, and young pups around the league with any number of body types can look at Kravish as great proof of what four years of hard work can do. Now he’s the upperclassman bully. He put in his time, stuffing his face with all manner of food in order to pack the pounds on an unwilling body after hours on conditioning or weight training. And – get this – he did all of this while on pace to graduate in four years from Berkeley with a pre-med degree. Stud. Kravish will be sent off on Sunday afternoon to a rousing ovation as the California community will celebrate his career on a well-earned Senior Day.
Now, not all has gone exactly as Kravish may have hoped for on the basketball court. After his individual numbers took a leap to 11.4 points and 7.7 boards per game last season — all in his typically efficient manner — great things were expected of him this year. As a junior he played alongside the senior Solomon, who wrapped up his own personal four-year odyssey in inspiring fashion by averaging a double-double. That meant Kravish would be asked to bear the brunt of the front line duties this season, surrounded by a roster heavy in backcourt depth but light in size up front. It hasn’t exactly gone as planned. Kravish’s usage numbers have gone up, but his efficiency has dipped to a career-low, and his per-game numbers remain roughly the same despite his increased opportunities.
Likewise, after back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in his first two seasons in Berkeley, his collegiate career will end with back-to-back NCAA Tournament absences barring an unexpected run in Las Vegas. Still, his teammates and coaching staff rely on him as a leader, an example, a rock in the middle. All those things that skinny kid did to ingratiate himself to fans back when he was a freshman? Kravish still does all of those things. He plays with fire. He accepts his role. He does the dirty work. And he works and fights and continues to earn his fans. There have certainly been disappointments during his senior campaign. For instance, he’ll leave Berkeley with three straight regular season losses to Bay Area rival Stanford, but he didn’t go down without a fight. In his final game at Maples Pavilion, Kravish turned in a career high with 23 points to go along with 12 boards in the 72-61 loss.
As always for Kravish, this is not an end but a new beginning. There’s a reason they call graduation “commencement.” He’ll move on from his career at California and undoubtedly find great success. He’s already got plans to marry his high school sweetheart in August. He’ll probably have a chance to play some professional ball somewhere on this planet for as long as he wants. When he’s done with that, if he still so chooses, just about any medical school will be more than happy to accept him a student. And maybe 10, 15, 20 years down the line, we’ll see a familiar face in the stands behind the Cal bench and flash on that impossibly skinny freshman with such a great future ahead of him. Glad to know you, David Kravish.