Eldridge Recasner

Amateur career

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Recasner was introduced to basketball in fifth grade by his uncles. His first organized game was in junior high school. During the first game, Recasner scored on the wrong basket because he had learned the game on a half-court one-basket basketball court. While growing up, he admired Dr. J, George Gervin, and Marques Johnson. He attended Alfred Lawless High School in New Orleans and was a high school team mate with Robert Pack. Recasner was a senior when Pack was a sophomore. Recasner was a better professional prospect than Pack and outscored Gary Payton five of nine times when the two point guards opposed each other in college.

Recasner attended University of Washington where he played for the Huskies. He redshirted during his freshman 1985–86 season. Recasner was a member of the 1990 class at Washington, and he was a three-time All-Pac-10 guard who was selected to the Washington Huskies all-20th-century team. He was the first three-time captain of the Huskies. Recasner was an architecture major at Washington by his own account, but another account claims he was a black history major. Recasner once scored 29 points against the undefeated and number one ranked Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team while guarding Sean Elliott. The Wildcats won the game while scoring the most points the Huskies had ever given up (109).

Professional career

Recasner, a 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m), 190 pounds (86 kg) guard, was never selected in the NBA Draft. However, after spending the 1990–91 season with TTL Bamberg in Germany, he played in the Global Basketball Association in 1991–92. He also played in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) for the Presto Ice Cream Kings together with Allan Caidic, Vergel Meneses, Onchie dela Cruz and others while he played during the Third Conference. Then, he returned to Washington to play in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) during the 1992–93 and 1994–95 seasons. He played in the CBA for the franchise located in Yakima, Washington, which was near to the Seattle metropolitan area where the University of Washington was located. He played in Turkey in 1993–94. After leading the Yakima Sun Kings to the CBA championships as the league MVP, he signed to a 10-day contract with the Denver Nuggets on March 3, 1995 and played in three games. For the 1995–96 NBA season he signed as a free agent with the Houston Rockets. He signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Hawks for the 1996–97 and 1997–98 seasons. He then signed with the Charlotte Hornets in January of the 1998–99 season where he stayed for parts of four seasons. He ended his career with two 10-day contracts for the L.A. Clippers in January 2002 after having been waived by the team.

Recasner himself considers being signed by the two-time defending NBA Champions Houston Rockets the highlight of his career. At that point he had gone from playing in the CBA to the best team in the NBA. Recasner earned the starting point guard spot over Kenny Smith and Sam Cassell. In one of his first games as a starter, he went five for six from the three-point line in the fourth quarter against the Detroit Pistons. Unfortunately, by the end of the season the Rockets had several players injured and several CBA players on their roster.

His most productive seasons were the two seasons with Atlanta where he totaled over 250 rebounds, 200 assists and nearly 1000 points in 130 games. He played in four post-seasons with three teams. Three of the four teams advanced to the second round of the NBA playoffs. Recasner posted a career 41% (239–584) three-point shot field goal percentage and ranked in the league's top 10 during the 1997–98 season with a 62–148 (.419) shooting percentage. His 1995–96 season three point statistics were better at 81–191 (.424), but he did not rank in the top 10 that season. He also posted an 89% (235–265) career free throw percentage.

In a 1997 NBA Playoff game against the Chicago Bulls he got hot and scored 11 quick points in the third quarter to nearly help the Hawks comeback in the game to even the second-round playoff series at two games apiece. At one point after a hot shooting streak, the Bulls assigned Michael Jordan to defend Recasner and the Bulls then stopped the comeback. Recasner's defense also pressured Jordan into a travelling violation in the final minute of the game. However, efforts by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen saved the day for the Bulls.

Recasner was such a good free throw shooter that once in 1998 during the midst of a 36 consecutive successful free throw streak he was fouled in a two-shot foul situation with his team down by three points and 2.3 seconds left. His team needed him to make the first and miss the second, but he was unable to miss.

On October 27, 1999 he was hospitalized in an automobile driven by Derrick Coleman. Coleman had been driving an Sport utility vehicle and had collided with a tractor trailer and was charged with drunk driving. Coleman was eventually acquitted of the charges and found guilty of "unsafe movement". Recasner endured a fractured right shoulder, partially collapsed lung and other injuries, and a female passenger was also hospitalized. He missed 52 games due to the accident and when he returned to the lineup he only played in seven games. Recasner was very upset with Coleman who did not even check in on whether Recasner was O.K. for over a week after the accident. On Christmas Eve 1999 during his time on the injured reserve, Recasner dragged a Continental Airlines clerk across a table by his necktie in frustration while attempting to book a flight to Texas to visit his sister, who was involved in a serious car accident. Recasner was uncertain whether his sister would survive. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and was sentenced to a 24-month deferred sentence, 45 hours of community service and ordered to pay $200 in court costs.

In 2004, he was named assistant coach of the Bellevue Blackhawks of the American Basketball Association.

Personal

Recasner lives in Bellevue, Washington, during the off-season. He and his wife Karen have four children: Sydney, Erin, Lauren, and Eldridge III. Recasner had wed on August 14, 1993. During his NBA career his mother, Joyce, and sister, Schwuan, lived in New Orleans, but he lived in Bellevue.