Kirk Archibeque has been a busy man since his playing days at Northern Colorado and Fort Lewis College came to a close. But playing basketball still is what keeps him busy.
Archibeque, a native of Cortez who finished playing collegiate basketball at FLC after spending three seasons at Division I Northern Colorado in Greeley, is in the midst of his sixth professional season in Europe, now with a team in Belgium that is second in its league.
He started off playing in Slovakia before moving to a team in Poland for two seasons. He spent his fourth season playing in the Republic of Georgia where his team won its league championship. Archibeque went back to Poland for one more season before joining his current Belgian team in the EuroChallenge league, one of the top leagues in Europe. He also has won two Polish Cups while in Poland.
“It is crazy. I have been to Siberia and places like that, so that has been amazing to see the world,” said Archibeque, who turned professional after his senior season at FLC in 2008-09. “It has been a fun ride.”
Archibeque currently is the starting center for Antwerp in Belgium. This season, he is averaging 7.2 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Four of the team’s starting-five players are from the United States.
Archibeque said playing in Europe has been made easier because his wife, Mandi, and daughter, Leah, are able to travel with him.
“That makes it much easier off the court. If they were not with me over here, there is no chance that I would still be over here.”
Archibeque was a star coming out of Montezuma-Cortez High School, where he was coached by his father, Bob. At 6-foot-9, 240 pounds, he was a dominant force that drew the attention of the Division I Bears.
“It was right when Northern Colorado turned Division I, and they took their lumps,” Bob Archibeque said. “They went to Syracuse and all over the place to get games in. He had a great season and was All-Independent his first year and was All-Big Sky two years in a row after that.”
Archibeque decided to transfer to FLC his senior season so his family could watch him play. He went on to set the single-season scoring record with 640 points. It stood until Alex Herrera set a new mark at 687 points this season. Herrera also broke Archibeque’s single-season rebound, free-throw attempts and free-throws made records, too.
“What I remember about playing there my one year at Fort Lewis was just being able to play in front of my family and friends for that one season,” Archibeque said. “That was very memorable for me. I really enjoyed playing in front of all of them because I never had the opportunity to really play in front of anyone beside my intermediate family at Northern Colorado. I remember every single game my grandparents, parents, uncle and aunt were at every game there at Fort Lewis. That just made me play so much harder and just really want to play my best for them every single time I stepped on the floor.
“As far as ranks, I would rank that my most enjoyable college year.”
Bob Archibeque, who coached high school for 32 years, has had a chance to see his son play in Europe four times since then. He noted how talented the players are at the next level and how his son’s physical play has helped him have a long career.
“When he first went over there, he didn’t get much pay. He was scraping by,” Bob Archibeque said. “He got married and went over and worked himself up through the leagues to where he is now in one of the top leagues. If he can go another four or five years, financially, he can sock a lot away. He’s really worked hard.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
