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An only child, he was born and raised in Charleston, Illinois, before heading to Lawrence, Kansas, in the summer of 1986 to fulfill his dream of playing college basketball at the University of Kansas. As a youth in Charleston, he excelled at both basketball and baseball -- and was even offered the opportunity to play for the Kansas baseball team by head coach Marty Pattin (a former Kansas City Royal and himself a native of Charleston, Illinois). Gueldner decided it would be only basketball for him and went to KU as the unknown and least decorated member of a recruiting class that included All-Americans Mark Randall and Kevin Pritchard, among other highly-regarded student-athletes. That meant he would see limited playing time as a freshman, however midway through his sophomore year became a starter for the Jayhawks who went on to win the 1988 NCAA national championship (that team would be known as Danny and the Miracles, with national player of the year Danny Manning playing the lead role). In his four seasons on Mt. Oread, he had the opportunity to play for hall-of-fame coaches Larry Brown and Roy Williams. Gueldner remains one of the all-time great three-point shooters in Jayhawk hoops history. Jeff parlayed his achievements at KU into a successful professional career where he worked in various capacities over the next decade. He married, had three daughters and moved to Olathe, Kansas. Due to a series of job layoffs and an illness in his wife’s family, Gueldner made the decision to leave corporate America. He later ended up regretting it as it led to multiple failed businesses, significant financial losses, stress and frustration. It culminated with a diagnosis of stage four cancer in 2010, followed by a divorce later that year. Gueldner’s long road to recovery following the events of 2010 started with him reigniting a strong work ethic that had long flickered out. He embarked on a new career with a new attitude on life and has never looked back. In 2020, though the emotional and physical scars of his cancer and divorce remain, Gueldner remarried and is once again happy and healthy. In addition to his work in the insurance industry, Gueldner has been an analyst on the pre- and postgame television shows for Kansas basketball for the past eight years. Life is good once again for Gueldner, but the road back has not been easy. Jeff and his wife Missy live in Olathe with his stepdaughter Sloane and his stepson Trace. His daughter Cameron attends Creighton University and is pursuing a career as a physician's associate. Twin sister Gracen works for Aya Healthcare and lives in Shawnee, Kansas. His youngest daughter, Sarah Beth, plays basketball at Drake University. Dedicated To: Dedicated to my late mom, Judy, my dad, Gary, and my daughters Gracen, Cameron and Sarah Beth; my stepchildren Sloane and Trace; and my wife Missy. To all of my coaches, teammates, friends and everyone in Jayhawk Nation and beyond that have cheered for me, prayed for me and been there for me through it all. Hopefully everyone out there who reads this book takes the time to remember and properly acknowledge everyone in their lives who played a role in them being them just as I do here. As the song says, we need to give credit to those who lend us a helping hand, because without them we would be nothing.