Chris Youngblood at Kennesaw State University (2023) and Chris Youngblood playing for Oklahoma City Thunder (2025). Photo Credit: KSU Athletics (Left) and Trevor Ruszkowski on Imagen Images (Right).
Former Owls guard Chris Youngblood is making history as the first former Kennesaw State basketball player to play in the NBA.
Youngblood, an undrafted free agent who earned the a two-way contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder made history when he took the court for six seconds in a 125-124 win for the defending NBA champions over the Houston Rockets.
Since his debut, Youngblood has remained a small but consistent part of OKC’s lineup, averaging 5.25 minutes per game in 12 appearances.
The rookie scored his first NBA points in the Thunder’s second game of the season, converting his only three-point attempt in a 141-135 win over the Indiana Pacers.
Youngblood’s scoring career-high to this point was a six point showing on Nov. 2 in a 137-106 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Spending the first three years of his college career at KSU, Youngblood led the Owls in scoring in both the 2021-22 and 2022-23 season, playing a major role in the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance.
During the historic 2022-23 season, Youngblood was named to the All-ASUN first team, All-ASUN Tournament team and The Atlanta Tip-Off Club Georgia Player of the Year.
Shortly after the Owls were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament by Xavier, Youngblood entered the transfer portal to follow late coach Amir Abdur-Rahim to South Florida, where he was named American Athletic Conference Player of the Year for the 2023-24 season, averaging 15.3 points per game and shooting 45.8% from the field.
As a fifth-year senior, Youngblood finished out his college career at Alabama where he started 18 games for the Crimson Tide who posted a 28-9 record, making a run to the Elite Eight.
Several former Owls have played professionally around the globe, and a few, including Spencer Rogers and Kendrick Ray, have had brief stints in the NBA’s G-League and Summer League. Youngblood, however, is the first former Owl to sign an NBA contract and make an appearance in an NBA game.
