Kambium Buckner

Infobox NCAA Athlete
name = Kam Buckner
caption =
college = Illinois
conference = Big 10
sport = Football
position = Defensive Tackle
class = Senior
career_start = 2003
height_ft = 6
height_in = 4
weight_lb = 264| nationality = USA
birth_date = birth date and age|1985|5|12
birth_place =
highschool = Morgan Park High School
former_school(s)=
awards = 2004 All-Big Ten Honorable Mention
2005 All-Illinois
2005 Preseason Second-Team All-American
2005 Second-Team All-Big Ten

Kambium Elijah "Kam" Buckner - born May 12, 1985 in New Orleans, LA, is a former University of Illinois football player. Buckner is commonly referred to as Killa Kam due to his violent style of defensive line play. Kam played at Illinois from 2003 through 2006, as a player in both the Ron Turner, and Ron Zook head coaching eras.

Personal information

He is the fourth of five children, and the only boy.

Early years

Buckner played his prep ball at Morgan Park High School on the South side of Chicago, Illinois; where his head coach was Lexie Spurlock. Morgan Park was also the high school football home of Notre Dame quarterback Demetrius Jones, Corey Mays of the New England Patriots,Trezelle Jenkins of the Kansas City Chiefs and Frisman Jackson of the New York Jets. Buckner had a remarkable high school career in which he was once described as one of the "most electric defensive players in the country". Buckner was ranked one of the top defensive end prospects in the country by Rivals.com and Prep Star Magazine. He made the Sun-Times Top-100 Chicago Area recruit list. He was All-Area, All-Region and All-Conference. He was ranked one of the Top 30 football players regardless of position in the state of Illinois by Rivals.com and named to the CBS All-Region team as a senior. He also was a U.S. Army All-American. He recorded 256 tackles and 26 sacks during his junior and senior seasons and added 37 tackles for loss as a senior. He Also recovered two fumbles and forced eight as a senior. Buckner was a three-year letter winner in track recording a 24.5 in the 200m dash; an astonishing time for a man his size. In track and field Buckner set City records in the shot put and discus, winning the championship in those events 3 consecutive years. Buckner led Morgan Park to the Football City Championship each of his final three years of high school. Winning it in 2001.

College years

Kambium was highly recruited by many of the top collegiate programs in the country. On February 2, 2003 he signed a National Letter of Intent to play with the University of Illinois, of the Big Ten Conference. Buckner chose Illinois over Northwestern, Indiana, Purdue, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Iowa and Miami University. Buckner played both Defensive and Offensive Line for the Fighting Illini during the years of rebuilding for the program.

Buckner enrolled at the University of Illinois in 2003. Buckner provided depth on the line, but only played in 6 games after missing five due to an illness. He ended the season with only five tackles, two for a loss, and a sack. Buckner's first career tackle came against Michigan, while his first tackle for a loss came against Iowa. His first career sack came against the UCLA Bruins.

In 2004, as a sophomore, Buckner started all but three games of the season. Buckner averaged 3.8 tackles per game, leading all Illinois defensive lineman. He totaled 46 tackles, with 10 tackles for a loss and 2 sacks. His 26 quarterback pressues led his team. He also shared the team lead in pass break-ups with Kelvin Hayden with seven. In his first start, Buckner had seven tackles against Western Michigan. He then had six tackles, two for a loss, and a sack against California, followed by a three tackle, 10 quarterback pressure day against Michigan and Chad Henne.

In 2005, Buckner's junior year, he had his best campaign yet. Buckner earned second-team all-Big Ten honors and was voted team captain. While starting all games, Buckner recorded 57 tackles, 12 for a loss, and 4 sacks. He also had one pass break-up and 21 quarterback pressures. His 4.8 tackles per game was fourth among Big Ten defensive lineman. Buckner had a season-high three tackles for a loss against California, then 10 tackles against Indiana.

If not for injury resulting in a hiatus from the team Buckner would have entered the 2007 season as a candidate for the Outland Trophy, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Bednarik Trophy, Lombardi Trophy, and Hendricks Award. He was also selected as a Pre-season first-team All-American watch list. Unfortunately Kambium played mostly scout team at the University of Illinois. Kambium was one of many High school all-americans who thought they were better than than they are. Due to lack of work ethic and extensive partying Kambium College career did'nt pan out the way he would like. Kambium gave the offense great looks on scout team. Kambium once even received scout player of the week.

Buckner was noted for his involvement in the campus and neighboring community while in college, as well for his creativity off of the football field. Fighting Illini fans embraced Buckner's self made song about the excitement of the players and the campus in regards to the team's new coach Ron Zook. In the 2005 season the song became an Illini anthem of sorts. His time at Illinois spanned the careers of 2 head coaches and 3 quarterbacks: Jon Beutjer, Tim Brasic, and Isiah Williams. Kam graduated from the University of Illinois in May 2007 with a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science.

tats

2004-2005

Political career

Buckner's political aspirations have always been known evident as when he was interviewed by ABC news' Mark Giangreco about his future football plans, he diverted the conversation and replied "maybe I'll be the mayor of Chicago one day."