Daniel Basavich (born September 25, 1978) is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional pool

Pocket billiards

Pool, also more formally known as pocket billiards or pool billiards , is the family of cue sports and games played on a pool table having six receptacles called pockets along the , into which balls are deposited as the main goal of play. Popular versions include eight-ball and nine-ball...

 player from New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

. He is fondly called "Kid Delicious", a nickname he acquired after defeating a player monickered "Kid Vicious".

Basavich grew up in Manalapan Township, New Jersey

Manalapan Township, New Jersey

Manalapan Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 38,872. The name "Manalapan" comes from the Lenape word for "land of good bread or good land to settle upon."...

.

Professional career

Basavich was a notorious road player who hustled pool games across the country, but later decided to compete professionally in tournaments after becoming too well known to continue hustling.

In 2004, Basavich was named "Rookie of the Year" by the United Pool Players Association.

He made his first television appearance in the 2005 WPA World Nine-ball Championship

WPA World Nine-ball Championship

The WPA World Nine-ball Championship is an annual, international, professional nine-ball pool tournament, founded in 1990, sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association , and principally sponsored and organised by Matchroom Sport...

, beating Hsia Hui-kai in the preliminary stages. He made another appearance at the 2005 Skins Billiards Championship

Skins Billiards Championship

The Skins Billiards Championship was an annual nine-ball tournament held in the US. It was promoted by Allen Hopkins Productions and Billiards International, and was broadcast on ESPN. While most pool tournaments pit pairs of players against each other in , this unusual event pits four...

. Basavich nearly won that tournament, but Santos Sambajon

Santos Sambajon

Santos Sambajon is a Filipino professional pool player. His nicknames are "The Little Giant" and "The Saint." Originally from the Philippines, he now resides in the United States.-Professional career:...

 defeated him after winning the lag for last part of the sudden-death game and from the .

In November 2005, Basavich defeated Corey Deuel as the Glass City Open in Toledo, Ohio

Toledo, Ohio

Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...

, in a televised match where he broke and ran nine consecutive racks of nine-ball, resulting in a score of 10-2. He was defeated by Charlie Bryant in the finals.

L. Jon Wertheim wrote an article in Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...

about Basavich in its 2004 Super Bowl

Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...

 Edition entitled "The Amazing Adventures of Kid Delicious and Bristol Bob". Wertheim subsequently wrote a book on Basavich's adventures entitled Running the Table: The Legend of Kid Delicious, the Last Great American Pool Hustler which was released in September 2007.

In 2005, Lions Gate entered into negotiations for a feature film to be loosely based on the life of Danny Basavich.

In 2006, Basavich released the first in his new line of billiards tutorials, The Kid Delicious Advanced Clock System and Banking Secrets produced by Pooljax productions.

Filmography

• The Kid Delicious Advanced Clock System and Banking Secrets DVD (2006)
• Big Time Delicious Racking Secrets and Ultimate Pro Shotmaking DVD (2007)

Titles

• 2004 Reno Open
• 2004 Joss Northeast Nine-ball Tour Season Finale, Portland, Maine
  Portland, Maine
  Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
  
  
• 2005 16th Ocean State Championship, Providence
  Providence, Rhode Island
  Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
  
  , Rhode Island
  Rhode Island
  The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...