Then&Now: Kyle Wombolt, A change of focus

Just before graduating from Coeur d’Alene High School in 1987, Boise State University-bound Kyle Wombolt had a plan.

Wombolt, who set scoring records as a two-year starter at Coeur d’Alene after starting his freshman and sophomore seasons at Kellogg, would play basketball four years at BSU and follow that up by playing a couple years in Europe. At that point, he’d put his playing days behind him, go to law school and get on with life.

An injury changed his plans. Wombolt suffered nerve damage related to a stress fracture in his leg and played injured his freshman year at Boise State. He had surgery and was looking at a redshirt year before he could return to playing at full strength.

That’s when he made a startling decision. He quit playing basketball cold turkey.

“I had never thought about not playing,” Wombolt said. “But it was like bang, I made the decision overnight. I made a decision to refocus. I never really missed it after that.”

After leaving BSU, Wombolt enrolled at Idaho. He finished his undergraduate work and entered Idaho’s law school, where he graduated summa cum laude.

Wombolt left Idaho for New York. He spent 7 1/2 years as a Wall Street lawyer. He relocated from the East Coast to the West Coast, landing in Palo Alto, Calif. He became a partner earlier this year in the firm Goodwin Procter, where he specializes in securities litigation. He spends half his time traveling to Asian cities to meet with clients.

To have seen Wombolt shoot the basketball in high school, one would have thought he was born to play the game. The 5-foot-11 guard had a feathery soft shot, and the ball found the net the majority of the time.

Wombolt set scoring records 20 years ago at CdA that haven’t been broken and may stand for another decade or two. He holds the single-game record (55 points), season record (717), career record (1,235) and free-throw shooting percentage (91.3, 189 of 207 attempts). He finished with 2,178 points overall.

He was still feeling the affects of the flu when he scored 55 against Cheney on Dec. 21, 1986. He missed two games the week before. Just before missing those games, he had what would be his worst shooting effort of the season when he made just 3 of 18 shots from the field in a 70-69 loss to University. He missed 13 of his first 14 shots.

His shooting touch hadn’t returned completely against Cheney. He made just 13 of 31 shots from the field, but was sharper from 3-point range (9 of 17). At the free-throw line, he was 20 of 22.

Had Wombolt shot 50 percent or better from the floor, he would have scored more than 60 points.

“I don’t recall much from the game, but the thing that I remember is I didn’t think it was a big deal because I didn’t shoot that great,” Wombolt, 38, said in a telephone interview from his Palo Alto office.

The Vikings opened the season with four straight losses. CdA followed with 11 straight wins and started showing it could possibly make a deep postseason run.

Sure enough, CdA captured the Region I championship and a state berth.

At state, CdA opened with a 61-57 win over Bonneville, setting up a semifinal against No. 1-ranked and unbeaten Meridian (23-0), which had rolled past CdA 70-51 earlier in the season.

Wombolt scored a game-high 29 points as CdA upset Meridian 66-63 to advance to the title game. The run ended for the Viks (18-7) in a 70-67 loss to Rigby. Wombolt scored 36 points in the final game. His last shot – a desperation 25-footer at the buzzer – bounded off the backboard.

“I don’t know if the points or the records even mean much to me,” Wombolt said. “It’s not something I dwell on. I will say it was good training for what I do today. I’ve always been a very focused-type person – too focused and too serious in some cases.

“Basketball and sports in general were an area to channel my energies and work hard for something. Somebody, some day, will break the records. What I’m proud of is I was never afraid to fail. I’ve never been afraid to fail in anything I do.”

Wombolt, who works out regularly, hasn’t played in an organized basketball game since he left Boise State. About twice a year, he plays HORSE with friends.

“I can still shoot it,” he said. “Sometimes it takes a few minutes to shake the rust off. But I still have the touch.”

Although he’s been in several relationships, Wombolt remains single. He doesn’t think he’ll be a lifelong bachelor.

“I love my job, but it puts a lot of strain on relationships,” said Wombolt, whose thick, black hair from his high school days gave way long ago to premature balding and graying. “I have no beef with still being single. My mom has the beef with me being single. She wants grandkids.”

Perhaps grandkids with a penchant for basketball.