High school Born and raised in
Cincinnati, Ohio, Ensminger played high school basketball at
Oak Hills High School.
College career Ensminger played four years of
college basketball at
Valparaiso University (1992–1996), amassing 1,061 points and 910 rebounds. He helped Valpo win
Mid-Con titles in 1995 and 1996, and left as the school's all-time leader in career rebounds. His record would stand for 21 years until
Alec Peters broke the record on January 16, 2017, against
Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Professional career Ensminger started his professional career with
Tours Basket in the French 2nd Division
ProB league, in 1996, followed by stints in Portugal (
FC Porto) and New Zealand (
North Harbour Kings). In October 1998, he signed with
Namika Lahti in Finnish
Korisliiga. In 1999, Ensminger signed with
SSV Weißenfels of the German
Basketball Bundesliga, establishing himself as a dominant post player in the league right away. After two years with the Weißenfels team, he signed with fellow Bundesliga side
TSK universa Bamberg (later known as Brose Bamberg). In his seven-year stay with the club, Ensminger was instrumental in helping Bamberg to German League championships in 2005 and 2007. He also played in international competition with the club, including the
EuroLeague and the
ULEB Cup (now called
EuroCup). After parting ways with Bamberg, he spent the 2008–09 season with another German team,
Paderborn Baskets, and finished his playing career with a four-year stint with the
Telekom Baskets Bonn (2009–2013). Ensminger played in 485 games in his 14-year Bundesliga career, tallying a total of 5,438 points and 4,093 rebounds. He appeared in seven
Bundesliga All-Star Games, and earned the
Eurobasket.com website's All-Bundesliga Center of the Year honors in 2003, 2005, 2009 and 2010. == Coaching career ==