Topic: Sasha Kaun

Aleksandr Olegovich "Sasha" Kaun (Russian: Александр Олегович "Саша" Каун, pronounced Kahn, born May 8, 1985, in Tomsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union), is a Russian professional basketball player for CSKA Moscow. Kaun played in the United States for the University of Kansas in college for four seasons, including the 2007-2008 national championship team. Kaun was drafted in the second round of the 2008 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics with the 56th overall pick. His rights were traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for cash considerations.

In high school, Kaun averaged 13.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game as a junior and 15.3 points and 12.6 rebounds per game as a senior. He began his college basketball career with the NCAA basketball team Kansas Jayhawks. After four years there he won the NCAA title in 2008. During his senior year, he was the back-up center for the Jayhawks. At the Florida Air Academy he led his team to a 23-0 record which led him to the Florida championships.

During fall of 2003 Sasha elected to play college basketball for Bill Self at Kansas. Duke and Michigan State also recruited him heavily. During his freshman season playing for Kansas he played in 27 games, starting twice. Sasha ended his sophomore season at KU 25-8 overall with many starts and also helped the Jayhawks to a 80-68 win against the Texas Longhorns which made Kansas Jayhawks the 2006 Big 12 Conference champions. He graduated with a degree in computer science and was selected to the Academic All Big 12 Basketball Team three times, in 2006, 2007, and 2008.