Once a major NBA prospect, Kenny Brunner's 19 games at Georgetown was the highlight of a bizarre college basketball career.

The playmaking guard on a high school team that featured Tayshaun Prince (Kentucky) and Jason Thomas (UNLV), Brunner was considered the nation's top point guard and a top 10 prospect when he chose to attend Fresno State over UCLA in the fall of 1996, but decommitted in the wake of point shaving allegations at Fresno State in March, 1997.

Instead, he signed with Georgetown, where the prospect of the talented point guard in the backcourt suggested a return to glory for the Hoyas.

Standing just 5-11, Brunner quickly established his presence in the backcourt. He led the Hoyas with 14 points and eight assists in the 1997-98 opener, scored in double figures in each of his first eight games and 15 of 17 games by the end of January, and was ranked seventh nationally in assists.

In early February, he was held out of the lineup in two games for what Georgetown called "personal reasons", often a sign of trouble within any media release from a John Thompson-coached team. According to the Associated Press, "Thompson said Brunner has been receiving counseling for a problem not related to the team or academics."

He did not attend Georgetown's 76-56 win over Notre Dame on Feb. 8, 1998. When the team returned to campus that afternoon, Brunner met with Thompson and quit the team. The Washington Post reported he would be returning to Los Angeles to have some time with his family.

"My wish is that Kenny can iron out these things and return to Georgetown," his high school coach told the Post. "I have the utmost respect for Coach Thompson. Georgetown has been more than fair to Kenny Brunner. They've done more than a university or a coach could be expected to do. I don't know if I were in Coach Thompson's situation I would be as patient as Coach Thompson."

Instead, it turned out a plane had been sent from Fresno State University to Washington, where Brunner boarded the plane and arrived in time to enroll on the last day of registration for the spring semester.

Five weeks later, while sitting out the semester as a transfer, Brunner and fellow teammate Avondre Jones were thrown off the team for the robbery and assault of a Fresno State student. According to reports, Brunner attacked the victim with a samurai sword.

During his suspension, Brunner quit the Bulldogs and made the newspapers again. Wrote the Los Angeles Times: "A single sentence in your April 26 news wire summed up what's wrong with today's professional and college sports: Fresno State point guard Kenny Brunner, accused of beating a man with a samurai sword, says he will make himself eligible for the NBA draft."

Brunner went undrafted and enrolled at Santa Monica Junior College. A few weeks later, more trouble followed.

On May 24, Brunner was arrested for the attempted murder of Mike Miller, the basketball coach at nearby L.A. City College. Miller and three witnesses alleged that Brunner approached the coach in his office and demanded money. Brunner placed a handgun in Miller's chest and pulled the trigger, but the gun did not go off. He left with $1,500 and was arrested later that day.

"I find it hard to believe he could do something so stupid," said Fresno State coach Jerry Tarkanian.

Brunner spent four months in jail awaiting trial; the charges were dropped when Miller and three witnesses to the incident recanted their stories and told authorities they did not know who was the assailant, despite Miller identifying Brunner at gunpoint. In an unrelated case, the assault by samurai charges were also dropped, and Brunner returned to basketball.

After this incident, Kenny Brunner became a basketball vagabond. He never played at Santa Monica College, and relocated to the Pacific Northwest, averaging 14.2 points in 2000 for the College of Southern Idaho. Signed to a letter of intent to University of Georgia by coach Jim Harrick in the fall of 2000, his scholarship offer was publicly overruled by the school's president.

"Brunner drove across country from his home in Compton, California to Athens, GA," wrote ESPN.com. "He was ready for the start of the fall semester, arriving last Friday, a day after school had begun. But Tuesday was the last day for late enrollment and Brunner's official transcripts hadn't arrived yet...[University of Georgia President Michael] Adams wasn't going to push Brunner into the semester without ensuring he was eligible. He already authorized an investigation into Brunner's record when his recruitment was brought to his attention. But a source close to the situation told ESPN.com that Adams was swayed to deny Brunner's admission when he read the attention Brunner's recruitment was receiving in the local media."

Brunner left Georgia and enrolled at Division II Salem University (WV), but he quit school for good in 2002. His next step was the fledgling American Basketball Association, alternating with various stints in Europe, Mexico, and Dubai. He later joined a traveling streetball circuit, and became known as "Bad Santa".

By 2010, Brunner landed in Australia, where he retired from pro basketball and is a high school coach at a town south of Melbourne. The father of three, Brunner has settled down but was not afraid to tell a 2017 interviewer that "I am the best streetballer that has ever laced up shoes."