Campus Cribs

SI Staff | May 4, 2007

Campus Cribs /

Campus Cribs

Kevin Kroll

Welcome to the home of Kevin Kroll, starting prop on the Cal rugby team. The Golden Bears are one of the most dominant squads in all of college athletics, winning 15 of the last 16 national championships.<b><b> Kroll is a nuclear engineer on pace to graduate in three years. Here is the budding Einstein's studio apartment located just off Berkeley's famous Telegraph Avenue.

Kevin Kroll

At 6-foot-2, Kroll says he is "undersized" for the prop position, which he likens to an offensive lineman in football.

Kevin Kroll

Kroll's apartment is rather simply decorated -- in fact the television and his double bed are among the few things that weren't left there by the previous tenant. Like any good Wisconsinite, though, he's a huge Green Bay Packers fan, and this flag separates his bed from his closet.

Kevin Kroll

Obviously, Kroll likes his eggbeaters, but don't go thinking that's beer in the bottom drawer of this saintly athlete's fridge ...

Kevin Kroll

...It's just Diet Cherry Coke.

Kevin Kroll

To keep up his size, Kroll consumes a lot of protein shakes. He also lifts three days a week during the offseason and twice a week in season, which runs from February through June.

Kevin Kroll

Kevin gets ready to head to Smart Alec's -- a good fit for this brainy rugger - on Telegraph for some lunch. Smart Alec's is renowned among Cal students for their burgers, sandwiches, and low-fat-yet-tasty French fries.

Kevin Kroll

Kevin stands on the busy corner of Durant Avenue right below his apartment.

Kevin Kroll

With its combination of world-class academics and its topnotch rugby program, Berkeley was the perfect fit for Kevin. "I wouldn't have enjoyed any other rugby program as much," he explains, "because no other team is as focused and as serious as it is here."

Kevin Kroll

Among his souvenirs Kroll keeps a ticket from a Packers' preseason game last summer. "I went to one regular season game, when I was a senior in high school," he says. "It was like my birthday present, my graduation present, and my Christmas present all rolled into one."

Kevin Kroll

Here is some of Kevin's key rugby apparel: his jersey from when he played on the U.S. Under-19 squad that traveled to South Africa, and his official Cal Rugby lettermen's sweater.

Kevin Kroll

Kevin has his two medals from the USA Rugby Collegiate Championship displayed prominently on his wall. This year he'll try to go three-for-three.

Published May 4, 2007

SI STAFF