Kon Knueppel won’t ever be done with basketball.
Knueppel has been handing out buckets in gyms and outdoor courts around the Milwaukee area for decades. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he was the youngest member of the Flying Knueppel Brothers, who were fixtures at three-on-three competitions around the world. That love of hoops has been passed down to the next generation of Knueppels, who have reached even greater heights with one of Kon’s sons in the NBA and four others just starting to make names for themselves.
Knueppel hasn’t hung up the sneakers yet, though. At 51 years old, he’s still got plenty of game, as he continues to show in high-level league games. In March, he scored 58 points in a game at the Holy Cross Open in Kaukauna. He dropped 55 in a run at The League MKE, which includes players not far removed from their college days.
Knueppel is also still a force at the Closed Gyms, another league populated with former college players that he has run with his wife, Chari, for over 20 years. Even on the rare occasion when his age catches up with him, like the balky back that sidelined him on a recent July evening, Knueppel shows up to work the stats and scoreboard.
Basketball seems like his full-time job, even though he is a school counselor at Milwaukee Reagan High School. What motivates Knueppel to keep showing up in humid gyms several nights a week?
“I want to do anything to stay off the treadmill or the stationary bike or anything like that,” Knueppel jokes. “I love the exercise and I love basketball.”
The original Flying Knueppel Brothers
The basketball bloodlines in the Knueppels are strong. Paul Knueppel was a coach at Wisconsin Lutheran College, and he instilled a passion in his sons Klint, Klay, Kole and Kon.
“My father was a basketball coach and just loves basketball,” said Klint, the oldest brother. “Just loves the five guys and how you have a team and how you work together, and the strategy and competition.
“And so, when I was growing up, there were basketballs all over the place and little hoops in my room. And then that just carried on to everybody else.”
Kon, the youngest brother, never rebelled against the family tradition.
“I think my family emphasized keeping basketball fun,” Kon said. “And I’ve kind of passed that on to my kids, too.
“I’m six years younger than my closest brother. So they’re like six, eight and 10 years older than me. So they were just always playing and they were nice enough to include me.”
Kon had success playing in college, scoring over 2,000 points at Wisconsin Lutheran from 1995-98, and leaving there as the all-time steals leader. The game still called to the family as adults, so even as they started non-basketball careers, they joined forces as the Flying Knueppel Brothers.
The Knueppels’ intricate plays and teamwork led to success at three-on-three tournaments like Hoop-It-Up and Gus Macker. Kon was the substitute off the bench.
“That’s kind of our family thing, it’s kind of a big deal,” Klint said. “And I think that’s carried down with (Kon’s sons) as well, the importance of the older brothers and the respect you have for your older brothers.
“And then your older brothers, how they carried that down and look after you and take care of you as well.”
Klint retired from playing after the Flying Knueppel Brothers won the Gus Macker all-world title in 2003.
Kon still craved hoops competition. In 2004, he and Chari, who has baller credentials herself as the all-time leading scorer at UW-Green Bay, started the Closed Gyms. It’s become a haven for former college players, mostly from the NCAA Division III ranks, to compete in 48-minute games and not have the chaotic, foul-arguing atmosphere of a typical recreation league.
The new-generation Flying Knueppel Brothers
For the Closed Gyms teams, Knueppel signs up 48 players to divide among eight teams. A captain for each team makes selections in a draft … with a notable exception.
Knueppel gets to have a team with his sons and others who share his surname.
“I kind of had a test committee,” Kon said. “I just said this is what I’m thinking: It’s rare for somebody to be able to play with all their boys and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do it again, so would you be open to the idea?
“And then I have two nephews that also are in the league. So it’s a team of six Knueppels.”
The most prominent former player of the Closed Gyms is Kon II Knueppel. Kon and Chari’s oldest son started playing in the league when he was in eighth grade. Now he’s coming off a stellar rookie season with the Charlotte Hornets.
“Learning how to move without the ball,” Kon II told the Journal Sentinel before getting drafted fourth overall in 2025. “Most of the guys there are past their athletic prime, so learning different ways to score.
“How to use different skills to get people open. Also the physicality you have to play with when you’re playing against grown men is something that carried over for me. Especially in high school and into college.”
Kager, Kinston and Kash are now playing alongside their dad. The youngest brother, eighth-grader Kidman, is almost to the age that he can handle the older competition in the league.
“It’s great to see it continue with the family,” Kon said. “It’s never something that we put pressure on our kids to do. We just try to keep hoops fun.”
Kager, Kinston and Kash Knueppel (and soon Kidman) following Kon II’s example
Playing with his sons is probably the biggest reason why Knueppel keeps hooping. Kager is a 6-foot-10, fast-rising 2027 recruit committed to Duke. Kinston and Kash were teammates with Kager on Wisconsin Lutheran High School’s undefeated WIAA Division 1 state champions.
“It helps that they’re pretty good, too,” Knueppel said. “If I’m playing with my boys, the best defender isn’t guarding me. He’s guarding somebody else.
“So when Kager gets a double team, he can kick it out to me. But just playing that unselfish style, try to train them that that’s the best way to play.”
But don’t think Knueppel is out there for cardio, running from three-point line to three-point line.
“If you ever go see him play, he sets about six or eight screens every trip down the court,” Klint said. “He knows that if you get other people open, it will open yourself up for shots.
“But that’s his love for the game and how the game is played. And so, even now, if you go see him play, you’ll hear him yell, ‘Come on,” a bunch of times during the game to try to get people fired up because he still just loves playing the game when he’s, you know, 51. But we all think he’s crazy.”
Knueppel isn’t thinking about putting away his smooth jumper yet. The latest Closed Gyms season is coming to an end in early August. Next summer, he plans to be back on the court with a team of fellow Knueppels, just like he has done for decades.
“I want to play as long as I can,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The Knueppel patriarch is still hooping at 51. What keeps him playing?
Reporting by Ben Steele, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By Ben Steele, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
