Kris Ongenaet

Kris Ongenaet was a junior college transfer who played forward for Syracuse for two seasons. 'Kong' was a solid rebounder and defender, and was counted on to play those roles on the high scoring Syracuse team.

Ongenaet was born and grew up in Belgium, and played basketball for the Belgium National Team. He came to the United States to go to college at Cuesta College, a community college in San Luis Obispo, California. Ongenaet was named the team MVP his freshman year and made honorable mention in the Western State Conference, along with academic honors. As a sophomore, he was named to the Western State Conference First Team, and again had academic honors.

**Cuesta College Stats**
Season	Cl	Pos	G	GS	Min	FG	FGA	%	FT	FTA	%	3Pt	3PA	%	Asst	Reb	DReb	OReb	Fls	DQ	TO	ST	BS	Pts	PPG	APG	RPG
2005-2006	Fr	F	32	11	958	124	193	64.2%	80	191	41.9%	1	1	100.0%	100	395	282	113	108	9	101	48	101	329	10.3	3.1	12.3
2006-2007	So	F	33	32	1028	151	268	56.3%	92	161	57.1%	3	23	13.0%	123	381	275	106	106	6	125	53	36	397	12.0	3.7	11.5
Career			65	43	1986	285	461	61.8%	172	352	49.7%	4	24	16.7%	223	776	557	210	214	15	226	101	137	726	11.1	3.4	11.9

Ongenaet would leave Cuesta College as the school's all time leading rebounder, fifth in assists, and thirteenth in scoring.

Ongenaet would transfer to Syracuse upon completing his two years at Cuesta College. He would be the sixth man for the beginning of his junior season, providing help with the rebounding and defense up front as needed. When Paul Harris moved to the shooting guard position on January 27th, Ongenaet would move into the starting lineup as the power forward, and would remain a starter for the rest of the season. He would bring some intensity to the team that helped during some of the crucial games of the season.

The highlight of Ongenaet's junior campaign came against Marquette towards in the end of the season in a 'must win' game for Syracuse. The game was close in the second half when Ongenaet stole the ball from Marquette, drove the full length of the court against three defenders, did a cross over dribble, then a two handed dunk to finish the play, and got fouled in the process. That turned the momentum of the game in Syracuse's favor and the Orange never looked back winning 82-72.

Ongenaet had earned a starting role at forward his senior season. However, his trademark hustle and tough rebounding was not evident, and after twelve games, he was replaced in the lineup by an improving Rick Jackson. Onganaet would see very little playing time for a few games, actually missing a few of them. By the end of the season, he had returned to form, and was once again providing the Orange with the tough defense and rebounding they needed to win games. He pulled down eleven rebounds in a close loss to Villanova in February. In the epic six overtime game against UConn, Onganaet would play 28 minutes, grabbing nine rebounds and blocking two shots before fouling out.

Onganaet would finish his college career with 977 points and 1,085 rebounds for the two colleges.

Season	Cl	Pos	G	GS	Min	FG	FGA	%	FT	FTA	%	3Pt	3PA	%	Asst	Reb	DReb	OReb	Fls	DQ	TO	ST	BS	Pts	PPG	APG	RPG
2007-08	Jr	F	33	15	634	50	97	51.5%	42	62	67.7%	5	25	20.0%	33	147	96	51	78	2	42	22	19	147	4.5	1.0	4.5
2008-09	Sr	F	34	12	516	35	74	47.3%	34	59	57.6%	0	6	0.0%	42	162	100	62	73	2	31	24	19	104	3.1	1.2	4.8
Career			67	27	1150	85	171	49.7%	76	121	62.8%	5	31	16.1%	75	309	196	113	151	4	73	46	38	251	3.7	1.1	4.6