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Interview with Beidschied's mother
Posted on: July 29, 2021 at 08:09:20 CT
FIJItiger MU
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https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/i-never-thought-i-d-join-this-club-of-childless-mothers-says-st-louis-woman/article_b07ee087-4351-5dde-80eb-2f298f9a928d.html
Kimberly Biedscheid-Ursery remembers her son’s big dreams.
When Cameron Biedscheid was one of the nation’s top college basketball recruits as a star at Cardinal Ritter College Prep, he told his mom he would one day play for his father’s favorite school, Notre Dame, compete in the Olympics and make it to the NBA.
The 6-foot-7 Biedscheid became one of the biggest St. Louis-area high school basketball stars in the last 20 years and played one season at Notre Dame.
On Friday, he was shot and killed at age 27 in unincorporated north St. Louis County.
“People talk about Cameron’s basketball prowess, but off the court he was smart. He was funny. He was kind. He was a high school honor student, a son, a father and he was a light for so many people in his life,” Biedscheid-Ursery said Monday. “I’m not sure my heart will ever be the same.”
Biedscheid-Ursery said her son struggled in the years after his basketball career, but she doesn’t know what prompted his death.
“He brought joy to so many people in his life,” Biedscheid-Ursery said. “So for somebody to be so reckless with his life is disgusting to me. He did so much in his 27 years.”
Biedscheid-Ursery said she knew her son had talent by the time he was about 8 years old.
“The coaches would say, ‘He just never gets tired. He’s the best I’ve ever seen,’” she remembered.
In high school, Biedscheid played three years at the varsity level at Cardinal Ritter.
In his senior season, he was named the 2012 Post-Dispatch All-Metro player of the year, Mr. Show-Me Basketball by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, Missouri’s Gatorade Player of the Year and a Parade All-American. He averaged 31.7 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.6 blocks per game that season.
His mother said she’ll always remember when Biedscheid opened his acceptance letter to the LeBron James Skills Academy camp in 2011.
“His face was pure joy. Our house is an open floor plan and he ran into the kitchen and back into the family room and all around the house,” she said. “I knew he was immensely happy in that moment. He kept asking, ‘Are you joking?’”
Biedscheid-Ursery said she still has two large plastic containers full of letters from college coaches begging her son to play at their schools and promising they’d help him make it to the NBA.
Biedscheid accomplished his dream of playing for Notre Dame.
“They were his favorite team,” his mother said. “So when they came calling, they could have bought him for a penny.”
But Biedscheid bounced among basketball programs and never made it to the NBA or the Olympics.
Biedscheid signed with Notre Dame and spent his freshman season with the Big East Conference program, averaging 6.2 points and 1.4 rebounds in 34 games. He redshirted to start his sophomore season, then was granted a release and transferred in 2013 to the University of Missouri to play for coach Frank Haith.
Biedscheid-Ursery believes her son’s problems with Notre Dame stemmed from him being outshined by other players on the roster.
“He said to me, ‘I’m not the priority here anymore,’” she said. “I think he got pushed to the back burner and then basketball became a love-hate relationship for Cameron.”
After joining Mizzou, Biedscheid was suspended for an undisclosed violation of team rules shortly after coach Kim Anderson and his staff took over in spring 2014.
Biedscheid left the team in September of that year for what was described as personal reasons. He never appeared in a game for the Tigers.
After leaving Mizzou, Biedscheid played briefly at Jacksonville (Ala.) State, Louisiana State University-Shreveport, and logged 15 games for Harris-Stowe.
Biedscheid-Ursery said that after her son’s basketball career fizzled, he “struggled to find his footing in life.”
“You surround your child with good mentors — his uncles, father, coaches — but I think Cameron became so disillusioned with everyone that I think at one point he didn’t want to hear the advice,” she said.
She said she thinks the sense of disappointment from basketball was a large reason for her son’s struggles.
He was facing a felony drug charge at the time of his death.
Biedscheid-Ursery said she didn’t want to go into detail about her son’s personal problems after basketball. She wants him to be remembered for his accomplishments and the joy he brought to his family, especially his 18-month-old daughter, Charlie, whom he was helping raise.
“It’s the void for Charlie that hurts me the most,” Biedscheid-Ursery said. “He was very involved with her, and now she lost her father because someone thought their agenda was more important than his life. More than the basketball, Charlie is his legacy.”
Biedscheid-Ursery said she last saw her son at 5 p.m. Friday at her mother’s house, and he seemed normal.
He was shot and killed just before 11 p.m. that night in the block where he lived, the 6800 block of Champaigne Drive, an unincorporated area near Spanish Lake.
Biedscheid-Ursery said her family previously contended with gun violence. Her father was also killed in a St. Louis shooting. No one ever was arrested in connection with his death.
“I never thought I’d join this club of childless mothers,” she said. “The reality is that there are children of all shades who are killed in St. Louis, but they don’t get the attention.”
Kimberly Biedscheid-Ursery remembers her son’s big dreams.
When Cameron Biedscheid was one of the nation’s top college basketball recruits as a star at Cardinal Ritter College Prep, he told his mom he would one day play for his father’s favorite school, Notre Dame, compete in the Olympics and make it to the NBA.
The 6-foot-7 Biedscheid became one of the biggest St. Louis-area high school basketball stars in the last 20 years and played one season at Notre Dame.
On Friday, he was shot and killed at age 27 in unincorporated north St. Louis County.
“People talk about Cameron’s basketball prowess, but off the court he was smart. He was funny. He was kind. He was a high school honor student, a son, a father and he was a light for so many people in his life,” Biedscheid-Ursery said Monday. “I’m not sure my heart will ever be the same.”
Biedscheid-Ursery said her son struggled in the years after his basketball career, but she doesn’t know what prompted his death.
“He brought joy to so many people in his life,” Biedscheid-Ursery said. “So for somebody to be so reckless with his life is disgusting to me. He did so much in his 27 years.”
Biedscheid-Ursery said she knew her son had talent by the time he was about 8 years old.
“The coaches would say, ‘He just never gets tired. He’s the best I’ve ever seen,’” she remembered.
In high school, Biedscheid played three years at the varsity level at Cardinal Ritter.
In his senior season, he was named the 2012 Post-Dispatch All-Metro player of the year, Mr. Show-Me Basketball by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, Missouri’s Gatorade Player of the Year and a Parade All-American. He averaged 31.7 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.6 blocks per game that season.
His mother said she’ll always remember when Biedscheid opened his acceptance letter to the LeBron James Skills Academy camp in 2011.
“His face was pure joy. Our house is an open floor plan and he ran into the kitchen and back into the family room and all around the house,” she said. “I knew he was immensely happy in that moment. He kept asking, ‘Are you joking?’”
Biedscheid-Ursery said she still has two large plastic containers full of letters from college coaches begging her son to play at their schools and promising they’d help him make it to the NBA.
Biedscheid accomplished his dream of playing for Notre Dame.
“They were his favorite team,” his mother said. “So when they came calling, they could have bought him for a penny.”
But Biedscheid bounced among basketball programs and never made it to the NBA or the Olympics.
Biedscheid signed with Notre Dame and spent his freshman season with the Big East Conference program, averaging 6.2 points and 1.4 rebounds in 34 games. He redshirted to start his sophomore season, then was granted a release and transferred in 2013 to the University of Missouri to play for coach Frank Haith.
Biedscheid-Ursery believes her son’s problems with Notre Dame stemmed from him being outshined by other players on the roster.
“He said to me, ‘I’m not the priority here anymore,’” she said. “I think he got pushed to the back burner and then basketball became a love-hate relationship for Cameron.”
After joining Mizzou, Biedscheid was suspended for an undisclosed violation of team rules shortly after coach Kim Anderson and his staff took over in spring 2014.
Biedscheid left the team in September of that year for what was described as personal reasons. He never appeared in a game for the Tigers.
After leaving Mizzou, Biedscheid played briefly at Jacksonville (Ala.) State, Louisiana State University-Shreveport, and logged 15 games for Harris-Stowe.
Biedscheid-Ursery said that after her son’s basketball career fizzled, he “struggled to find his footing in life.”
“You surround your child with good mentors — his uncles, father, coaches — but I think Cameron became so disillusioned with everyone that I think at one point he didn’t want to hear the advice,” she said.
She said she thinks the sense of disappointment from basketball was a large reason for her son’s struggles.
He was facing a felony drug charge at the time of his death.
Biedscheid-Ursery said she didn’t want to go into detail about her son’s personal problems after basketball. She wants him to be remembered for his accomplishments and the joy he brought to his family, especially his 18-month-old daughter, Charlie, whom he was helping raise.
“It’s the void for Charlie that hurts me the most,” Biedscheid-Ursery said. “He was very involved with her, and now she lost her father because someone thought their agenda was more important than his life. More than the basketball, Charlie is his legacy.”
Biedscheid-Ursery said she last saw her son at 5 p.m. Friday at her mother’s house, and he seemed normal.
He was shot and killed just before 11 p.m. that night in the block where he lived, the 6800 block of Champaigne Drive, an unincorporated area near Spanish Lake.
Biedscheid-Ursery said her family previously contended with gun violence. Her father was also killed in a St. Louis shooting. No one ever was arrested in connection with his death.
“I never thought I’d join this club of childless mothers,” she said. “The reality is that there are children of all shades who are killed in St. Louis, but they don’t get the attention.”
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Interview with Beidschied's mother - FIJItiger MU - 7/29 08:09:20