Welcome back readers to another edition of Husky History, the column that highlights a former UConn athlete and their accomplishments at the professional level and up to this day.
As the hype for the basketball season is at an all-time high, this week will focus on the late Toby Kimball, one of the early great big men in UConn history.
Born on Sept. 7, 1942 in Framingham, Massachusetts, Kimball was a star basketball player from the beginning at Belmont Hill School. As a three-year varsity athlete, the big man started to get noticed by college coaches. He eventually settled on staying in the Northeast, choosing UConn.
Kimball’s first season on varsity came in the 1962-63 season where he made an immediate impact. He appeared in 24 games averaging 15.1 points and 15.6 rebounds per game, leading the former Yankee Conference in total rebounds with 375. His rebounding also placed him at 13th overall in the country.
The honors came rolling in for Kimball that season. After leading the team to a Yankee Conference Championship, the Husky earned his first All-Yankee Conference selection as well as AP and UPI All-New England honors.
Using the momentum from his first season, Kimball was utterly dominant in his junior campaign. With averages of 20.1 points and 17.3 rebounds, the Huskies captured another Yankee Conference Championship behind Kimball’s performances. UConn qualified for the NCAA Tournament that year, making it as far as the Elite Eight. Kimball was named to the NCAA All-Region Team.
Kimball returned for his senior season looking to improve on the team’s tournament run from last season. The big man appeared in 23 games, averaging 19.8 points and a dominating 21.0 rebounds. His rebounding average and totals ranked him first not just in the conference, but nationally as well, which helped lead the UConn Huskies to a No. 15 ranking.
His physicality that season often put him to the line for free throws, where he took a conference-leading 157 throughout the season, sinking 101 of them. Although the Huskies did not improve in the tournament, they did capture their third consecutive Yankee Conference Championship. Kimball earned his third and final All-Yankee Conference selection.
Kimball finished his career in Storrs nearly 60 years ago, yet his name is still found on the program statistical leaderboards. Most notably, he finished his career ranked second in the program for all time rebounds with 1,324. He still holds the single game record for rebounds with 29, set on March 8, 1965. It is safe to say Kimball left his mark on the program in a record-breaking way.
Kimball’s physicality and toughness coming out of UConn intrigued the Boston Celtics enough to select him with the 29th pick in the third round of the 1965 NBA Draft. Despite the selection, the new Celtic opted to play his first season overseas in Italy, where he helped the team win the Italian Cup Championship and World Cup Championship. However, legendary coach Red Auerbach wanted him back in Boston for the 1966-67 season to play under Hall of Famer Bill Russell.
In his lone season with the Celtics, Kimball did not see much action, only playing 5.8 minutes per game, averaging 2.6 points and 3.8 rebounds.
After the season, Kimball was drafted in the expansion draft to the new San Diego Rockets where he spent four seasons playing the best basketball of his career. In his tenure with San Diego, Kimball averaged 7.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game in 22 minutes of action off the bench.
He turned in his best season in 1967-68, where he averaged 11.0 points, 11.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 31.1 minutes per game. In a game dominated by skilled big men, Kimball ranked 13th in total rebounds in the NBA with 947.
The former Husky bounced around the NBA following his tenure with the Rockets, playing for the Milwaukee Bucks, the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Orleans Jazz. He retired after the 1974-75 season, boasting averages of 6.1 points and 6.8 rebounds.
After his professional career, Kimball was honored with being named to the UConn Basketball All-Century Team. He was also inducted in the first class of the Huskies of Honor in 2006.
Unfortunately, Kimball passed away in 2017 in the hospital due to health complications at the age of 74. Loved by his family and friends and so many others who knew him, UConn is proud to have had him represent what it takes to be a winning player in the Basketball Capital of the World.