Randolph Childress (born September 21, 1972) is an American former 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. He is formerly an assistant coach for his alma mater,
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...
.
College career
Childress played collegiately at Wake Forest University, where he averaged 18.4 points per game for his four-year career. His collegiate highlight came in 1995, when he delivered one of the most outstanding
ACC
ACC most often refers to:
* Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US
*American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...
Tournament performances of all time. Named tournament MVP, Childress along with sophomore
Tim Duncan
Timothy Theodore Duncan (born April 25, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Big Fundamental", he is widely regarded as the greatest power forward of all time and one of the greatest players in NBA histor ...
, carried the Demon Deacons to the title, Childress averaged 35.7 points and 7 assists per game. In the finals, against a UNC team featuring
Jerry Stackhouse
Jerry Darnell Stackhouse (born November 5, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores men's team. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and ...
and
Rasheed Wallace
Rasheed Abdul Wallace (born September 17, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. A native of Philadelphia, Wallace played college basketball at the University of North Carolina before declaring for the draft in 199 ...
, Childress scored 37 with 7 assists and hit a game-winning jumper with 4 seconds left in overtime. The game was highlighted by a
crossover dribble
A crossover dribble is a basketball manoeuvre in which a player dribbling the ball switches the ball rapidly from one hand to the other, to make a change in direction. In a typical example the player heads up-court, dribbling the ball in (say) the ...
Childress performed with UNC's
Jeff McInnis
Jeff Lemans McInnis (born October 22, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA), in GreeceACC Male Athlete of the Year in 1995. In 2002, Childress was named to the
ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team During the 2002–03 school year, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) celebrated its 50th anniversary by selecting the top players in its respective sports. Fifty players were selected for the men's basketball team, which was voted on by a 120-mem ...
, honoring the fifty greatest players in ACC history.
Professional career
In the
1995 NBA Draft
The 1995 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1995, at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It marked the first NBA draft to be held outside the United States and was the first draft for the two Canadian expansion teams, Toronto Raptors and Vancouve ...
, Childress was selected in the 1st round (19th overall) by the
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...
. Childress played in two
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
seasons for the Pistons and
Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...
, averaging 2.4 points per game. His NBA career was cut short by a torn ACL and disagreements with Trail Blazers coach
P. J. Carlesimo
Peter John Carlesimo (born May 30, 1949) is an American basketball coach who coached in both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and college basketball for nearly 40 years. He is also a television broadcaster, having worked with ESPN, '' Th ...
.
After leaving the NBA, Childress played in 1997–1999 in the
Turkish Basketball League
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...
for Tofaş SAS and Konya Kombassan. Childress went on to play ten games for the
Sydney Kings
The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Kings were formed from a merger between the West Sydney Westars and the ...
in the 2000–01
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
In April 2012, Childress was hired as the Demon Deacons' new director of player development. In April 2013, Childress was promoted to the position of assistant coach, moving into an on-court role for the team. He left the Wake Forest coaching staff following the 2020-21 season, moving into a strategic role with the athletic department.
Personal life
Childress's son Brandon Childress played basketball at Wake Forest and professionally.