Kyle Gregory Wiltjer (born October 20, 1992) is a Canadian-American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the

Zhejiang Lions The Zhejiang Guangsha Lions () are a Chinese professional basketball team based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, which plays in the North Division of the Chinese Basketball Association. Guangsha is the name of the club's corporate sponsor, but to prevent ...

of the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

(CBA). He spent two seasons of

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

with the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...

before transferring to play with the

Gonzaga Bulldogs The Gonzaga Bulldogs () (also known unofficially as the Zags) are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing Gonzaga University, located in Spokane, Washington, United States. Gonzaga competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

in 2013. A dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada, he has played for the Canada national team.

High school career

Wiltjer attended Jesuit High School in

Beaverton, Oregon Beaverton is a city in Washington County, in the U.S. state of Oregon with a small portion bordering Portland in the Tualatin Valley. The city is among the main cities that make up the Portland metropolitan area. Its population was 97,494 at the ...

, where he led the school to three consecutive Oregon state championships. Wiltjer played in the 2011 McDonald's All-American Game in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He also played in the 2011

Nike Hoop Summit The Nike Hoop Summit is an international men's basketball all-star game sponsored by Nike, held once a year since 1995, except from 2001–2003, which features the USA Basketball Men's Junior Select Team against a World Select Team of internationa ...

in his hometown of Portland and in the 2011

Jordan Brand Classic The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school All-Star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys in the senior class including alumns like Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Bl ...

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

College recruiting and career

Wiltjer was ranked as the No. 18 recruit in the class of 2011 in the

ESPNU ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and the Hears ...

100, the No. 25 recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

, and the No. 22 recruit by

Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

. He chose to play basketball for the University of Kentucky Wildcats and coach

John Calipari John Vincent Calipari (born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach. Since 2009, he has been the head coach of the University of Kentucky men's team, with whom he won the NCAA Championship in 2012. He has been named Naismith College C ...

on August 28, 2010. He had also considered

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, Gonzaga,

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

, and Wake Forest. Although he was a five-star recruit according to all of the recruiting analysts, Kyle Wiltjer never started a game his freshman season at Kentucky, and did not play as many minutes as fellow freshmen

Anthony Davis Anthony Marshon Davis Jr. (born March 11, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the power forward and center positions. Davis is an eight-time NB ...

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Michael Anthony Edward Kidd-Gilchrist ( Gilchrist; born September 26, 1993) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Kidd-Gilchrist was drafted second ove ...

, and

Marquis Teague Marquis Devante Teague (born February 28, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for Kolossos Rodou of the Greek Basket League. He was one of the top-rated high school basketball players in the class of 2011. High school career In ...

. He averaged only 11.3 MPG and 4.8 PPG, although his three-point percentage was an impressive 42.5%. The Kentucky Wildcats won the 2012 NCAA championship during Wiltjer's freshman year. Wiltjer began the 2012–13 season as a starter. In his third game of the season, against Lafayette, he accumulated 23 points, two assists, and four rebounds. However, he would eventually settle into an off-the-bench role, being named the SEC's Sixth Man of the Year. In April 2013, he had announced he would remain at Kentucky for his junior season. However, he eventually changed his mind, posting a letter on Kentucky's official athletic website on June 23 indicating that he would transfer in order to "compete the way I know I can. ... wherever that may be." A later report indicated that Wiltjer had drawn interest from three of the four Division I programs in his home state of Oregon (

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

), Gonzaga,

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

, and Texas. According to that report, "he left the door open to return to Kentucky if he can't find the right situation." On July 19, multiple media outlets reported that Wiltjer had chosen Gonzaga. The transfer became official the next day, when Gonzaga received a signed copy of a financial aid agreement. After sitting out the 2013–14 season due to NCAA transfer rules, he had two remaining seasons of eligibility. In February 2015 he scored a career-high 45 points against

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. Wiltjer led Gonzaga to its second ever Elite Eight appearance and a school record 35-3 record. He was named a Consensus Second-Team All-American, as well as First-Team All-WCC and WCC Newcomer of the Year. In his first season with Gonzaga he appeared in 38 games averaging 16.8

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...

, 6.2 rebounds per game and 1.9 assists per game in 27.6 minutes per game. After contemplating forgoing his remaining eligibility to enter the 2015 NBA draft, Wiltjer decided to return to Gonzaga for his senior year. Entering his second season with Gonzaga, Wiltjer was named CBS Sports' preseason player of the year. Sports Illustrated projected Wiltjer as the preseason player of the year, scoring champion, and the top-usage player in all of NCAA Division 1 basketball. He was named to the 35-man midseason watchlist for the

Naismith Trophy The Naismith Trophy is a trophy awarded to the men's champion of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, and is named in honor of basketball's inventor, James Naismith. The trophy was first awarded to the winner of the 1967 FIBA World Championship. The ...

on February 11.

Professional career

Houston Rockets (2016–2017)

After going undrafted in the 2016 NBA draft, Wiltjer joined the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

for the

2016 NBA Summer League The 2016 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA): the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Ten teams participated in the week ...

. On September 23, 2016, he signed with the Rockets. Wiltjer appeared in four of the Rockets' first 25 games of the 2016–17 season, scoring a total of three points. On December 14, 2016, he scored a season-high seven points in a 132–98 win over the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

. During his rookie season, Wiltjer had multiple assignments with the

Rio Grande Valley Vipers The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won f ...

, the Rockets'

D-League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

affiliate. On June 28, 2017, the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

acquired Wiltjer,

Patrick Beverley Patrick Beverley (born July 12, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Arkansas Razorbacks before spending three and a half ...

Sam Dekker Samuel Thomas Dekker (born May 6, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the London Lions of the British Basketball League (BBL) and the EuroCup. Dekker played college basketball for the Wisconsin Badgers. After finishing colleg ...

Montrezl Harrell Montrezl Dashay Harrell (; (born January 26, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals. Harrell received t ...

Darrun Hilliard Darrun Hilliard II (born April 13, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and the EuroLeague. Hilliard attended Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where h ...

DeAndre Liggins DeAndre Desmond Liggins (born March 31, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for Al-Ahli of the Saudi Premier League. He played college basketball for Kentucky. High school career Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, L ...

Lou Williams Louis Tyrone Williams (born October 27, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted directly out of high school by the Philadelphia 76ers ...

and a 2018 Top 3 Protected first-round pick (which ended up being pick #30) from the Houston Rockets in exchange for

Chris Paul Christopher Emmanuel Paul (born May 6, 1985), nicknamed "CP3" and “The Point God”, is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Paul is widely regarded as one o ...

. He was later waived by the Clippers on July 15, 2017.

Olympiacos (2017–2018)

On August 15, 2017, Wiltjer signed with the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

. On October 7 he was waived by the Raptors. On October 21, he signed with the Toronto Raptors'

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

affiliate, the

Raptors 905 The Raptors 905 are a Canadian professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Mississauga, Ontario, and are affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at Paramount Fi ...

. On October 29, 2017, Wiltjer signed with Olympiacos Piraeus of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

and the EuroLeague.

Unicaja (2018–2019)

On July 3, 2018, Wiltjer signed a one-year deal with

Unicaja Unicaja is a Spanish savings bank based in Málaga and chartered as a caja de ahorros providing retail banking services. The banks full name is ''Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Ronda, Cádiz, Almería, Málaga y Antequera'' after the n ...

of the Spanish

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

Türk Telekom (2019–2021)

Wiltjer signed with

Türk Telekom Türk Telekom is a state-owned Turkish telecommunications company. Türk Telekom was separated from Turkish Post (PTT) in 1995. Türk Telekom Group provides integrated telecommunication services for PSTN, GSM, and wide-band Internet. The Türk ...

in July 2019. He averaged 12.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game in the 2019-20 season, and then averaged 18.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in the 2020-21 season.

Canarias (2021–2022)

On July 13, 2021, Wiltjer signed a one-year contract with Lenovo Tenerife of the Spanish

Zhejiang Lions (2022–present)

On October 2, 2022, Wiltjer signed with the

of the

(CBA).

National team career

Canada junior national team

As a member of the Canadian Under-18 junior national team, Wiltjer won a bronze medal at the 2010

FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship The FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship is the Americas basketball championship for players under 18 years that take place every two years among national teams of the FIBA Americas zone. Before the 2006 edition, the tournament was played by unde ...

. As a member of the Canadian university national team, he played at the 2013 World University Games.

Canada senior national team

With the senior

Canada national basketball team Canada national basketball team may refer to: * Canada men's national basketball team * Canada women's national basketball team * Canada men's national under-19 basketball team * Canada men's national under-17 basketball team * Canada women's nation ...

, Wiltjer played at the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

, where he won a silver medal.

Career statistics

Professional

NBA

=Regular season

= , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, 14 , , 0 , , 3.1 , , .286 , , .308 , , .500 , , .7 , , .1 , , .2 , , .1 , , .9

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 1 , , 0 , , 5.0 , , 1.000 , , 1.000 , , – , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 3.0

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

, 24 , , 2 , , 9.4 , , .476 , , .420 , , .667 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , .2 , , .1 , , 4.5 , , 3.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 24 , , 2 , , 9.4 , , .476 , , .420 , , .667 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , .2 , , .1 , , 4.5 , , 3.3

College

, - , align="left" , 2011–12 , align="left" ,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, 40 , , 0 , , 11.6 , , .438 , , .432 , , .815 , , 1.8 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 0.4 , , 5.0 , - , align="left" , 2012–13 , align="left" ,

, 33 , , 10 , , 23.8 , , .421 , , .367 , , .810 , , 4.2 , , 1.5 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 10.2 , - , align="left" , 2014–15 , align="left" , Gonzaga , 38 , , 37 , , 27.6 , , .540 , , .466 , , .789 , , 6.2 , , 1.9 , , 0.5 , , 0.7 , , 16.8 , - , align="left" , 2015–16 , align="left" , Gonzaga , 36 , , 36 , , 33.6 , , .491 , , .437 , , .857 , , 6.3 , , 1.5 , , 0.4 , , 0.8 , , 20.4 , - class="sortbottom" ! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2" , Career ! 147 , , 83 , , 23.8 , , .487 , , .425 , , .814 , , 4.6 , , 1.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.6 , , 13.0

Awards and honors

High school

*2011

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger ...

team selection *2011

High School All-American team selection *2011

World team selection *2011

Gatorade Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine playe ...

- Oregon

College

*2012

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

National Champion - Kentucky *2013 SEC Sixth Man of the Year *2015 WCC Newcomer of the year *2015 First-Team All-WCC *2015

USBWA The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 by National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The USBWA annually awar ...

Second-Team All-American

Personal life

Wiltjer's father,

Greg Greg is a masculine given name, and often a shortened form of the given name Gregory. Greg (more commonly spelled " Gregg") is also a surname. People with the name *Greg Abbott (disambiguation), multiple people *Greg Abel (born 1961/1962), Canadi ...

, is a former Canadian professional basketball player. His paternal half-sister and Greg's daughter,

Jordan Adams Jordan LaVell Adams (born July 8, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for Club Atlético Aguada of Liga Uruguaya de Básquetbol. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. He was the first UCLA freshman to score 20 or more ...

, is also a former professional player. Both Greg and Adams also represented Canada. Through Adams, Wiltjer has two nieces. Wiltjer and his former girlfriend Charday Hunt, who was a

Sacramento State Hornets The Sacramento State Hornets (also Sac State) represent California State University, Sacramento in Sacramento, the capital city of the U.S. state of California, in intercollegiate athletics. The school fields 21 teams including men and women's ba ...

player and later a

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

employee, married in

Ios iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

, Greece, in 2019.

High school career

College recruiting and career

Professional career

Houston Rockets (2016–2017)

Olympiacos (2017–2018)

Unicaja (2018–2019)

Türk Telekom (2019–2021)

Canarias (2021–2022)

Zhejiang Lions (2022–present)

National team career

Canada junior national team

Canada senior national team

Career statistics

Professional

NBA

=Regular season

Playoffs

EuroLeague

College

Awards and honors

High school

College

Personal life

See also

References

External links