Killian Wiard Tillie (born 5 March 1998) is a French 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 who is currently a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He played

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 ...

for 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 ...

. Listed at and , he plays the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

and

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

positions. Tillie joined

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) () is a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Founded in 1887 by Joseph Cataldo, an Italian-born priest and Jesuit missionary, the univ ...

beginning in the 2016–17 season.

Youth career

Tillie played basketball and volleyball until the age of 14, before choosing to focus on basketball. He started his basketball career in the youth setup at Cagnes Basket, when he was six years of age. He then moved to Stade Laurentin Basket, before joining the youth academy of Olympique d'Antibes in 2013. Prior to the 2014–15 season, he joined the INSEP academy.

Recruiting

In January 2015, Tillie was highlighted by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

among five of the best international players in the 2015 and 2016 classes with aspirations to play college basketball. He was drawing major interest from California at the time, and scouts were impressed with his terrific offensive rebounding, athleticism and high motor. In August 2015, Tillie traveled to the United States and took official visits to Georgia Tech, Utah, and Gonzaga. Less than a week after his trip to Spokane, he verbally to committed to play college basketball at

, citing the Zags' "success with international players and because of the people that love basketball there." He signed with the Zags in the early signing period in November 2015.

College career

He made his first appearance in a Gonzaga jersey on November 5, 2016, when scoring four points to go along with four rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and two steals in twelve minutes of play against West Georgia. As a freshman during the 2016–17 season, Tillie appeared in 33 games, averaging 4.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in 12.3 minutes. He saw 14 minutes of action in the NCAA championship game against

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, pulling down nine rebounds and scoring one point. As a sophomore in 2017–18, Tillie was Gonzaga’s second leading scorer, averaging 12.9 points in 26.2 minutes per game to go along with 5.9 rebounds and 1 blocked shot per contest. Coming into his junior season, Tillie was named to the Preseason All-WCC Team. On October 30, 2018, it was announced that Tillie was to miss approximately eight weeks with a stress fracture on his ankle. Tillie missed the beginning of his senior season recovering from a knee injury. He returned to the lineup on November 19, 2019, finishing with 15 points and eight rebounds as Gonzaga held off

Texas-Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of T ...

72–66. On January 30, 2020, Tillie left a game against Santa Clara in the first half after suffering an ankle injury. At the conclusion of the regular season, Tillie was named to the First Team All-WCC. He averaged 13.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game as a senior.

Professional career

Memphis Grizzlies (2020–2022)

After going undrafted in the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecti ...

, he signed a two-way contract with the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

. On November 24, 2020, the

officially announced the signing of Tillie. On August 12, 2021, Tillie signed a second two-way contract with the Grizzlies. On January 1, 2022, he was signed to a two-year standard contract. The Grizzlies waived Tillie on October 15, 2022, before the start of the 2022-23 season.

National team career

Tillie helped the French Under-16 National Team win the 2014 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, averaging 14.3 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.2 blocked shots and 1.2 steals a contest, while being recognized as the tournament's MVP. He dropped in 25 points and grabbed 18 boards, in the title game, a 78–53 win over hosting Latvia. In the summer of 2015, Tillie competed in the

FIBA 3x3 Under-18 World Championships The FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup is an under-18 basketball tournament run by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) since 2011. The tournament was known as the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championships until the 2016 edition. History The event was held f ...

, where he teamed up with Bathiste Tchouaffe, Jules Rambaut, and Timothe Vergiat and he represented France at the 2015 World Championship, in Debrecen, Hungary, where they finished in third place, with an 8–1 record. His team defeated USA, featuring fellow Gonzaga commit

Zach Collins Zach Collins (born November 19, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs. He was drafted by the Sacramento ...

, in the quarter-finals, before losing to Argentina in the semifinals, and thumping Spain in the third-place game. He competed for France at the 2017 FIBA Under-19 World Cup, averaging team-bests of 12.4 points and 8.7 rebounds a contest.

Career statistics

NBA

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

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

, 18 , , 1 , , 10.1 , , .333 , , .303 , , .818 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , .3 , , .4 , , 3.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 3 , , 12.8 , , .339 , , .314 , , .625 , , 1.7 , , .6 , , .6 , , .4 , , 3.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 54 , , 4 , , 11.9 , , .337 , , .311 , , .737 , , 1.6 , , .6 , , .5 , , .4 , , 3.2

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;", Gonzaga , 33 , , 0 , , 12.2 , , .511 , , .478 , , .778 , , 3.2 , , .6 , , .7 , , .3 , , 4.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", Gonzaga , 36 , , 35 , , 26.2 , , .580 , , .479 , , .773 , , 5.9 , , 1.7 , , .8 , , 1.0 , , 12.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Gonzaga , 15 , , 0 , , 16.6 , , .500 , , .438 , , .643 , , 3.9 , , 1.5 , , .7 , , .7 , , 6.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;", Gonzaga , 24 , , 24 , , 24.6 , , .535 , , .400 , , .726 , , 5.0 , , 1.9 , , 1.0 , , .8 , , 13.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 108 , , 59 , , 20.3 , , .548 , , .444 , , .750 , , 4.6 , , 1.4 , , .8 , , .7 , , 9.5

Personal life

He is the son of

Laurent Tillie Laurent Tillie (born 1 December 1963) is a French professional volleyball coach and former player. He was a member of the France national team from 1982 to 1995, and a participant in the Olympic Games ( Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992). He currently ...

, a former professional volleyball player and coach of the French national team, and Caroline Keulen-Tillie, a former professional volleyball player from the Netherlands. Killian’s brothers are also professional athletes: Kim Tillie plays basketball,

Kevin Tillie Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...

plays volleyball.

References

External links

*
Gonzaga Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tillie, Killian 1998 births Living people Basketball players from Paris French expatriate basketball people in the United States French men's basketball players Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball players Memphis Grizzlies players Memphis Hustle players National Basketball Association players from France Power forwards (basketball) Undrafted National Basketball Association players