Ted Daniel Kitchel (born November 2, 1959) is a retired American basketball player. He was a two-time All-American at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

and represented the United States in the 1982 FIBA World Championship in Colombia. Kitchel played professionally in Italy and was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996. Born in Howard County, Indiana, Kitchel grew up in a rural part of Cass County, Indiana, honing his skills on a makeshift court in a tool shed. As a senior, Kitchel led tiny Lewis Cass High School to a 20-0 regular season record and its first sectional title in 1978. Kitchel averaged 26.2 points and 13 rebounds per game as he was graduated as the school's leading scorer. He committed to play collegiately at

for the legendary

Bobby Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (born October 25, 1940) is an American former basketball coach. Nicknamed "the General", Knight won 902 NCAA Division I men's college basketball games, a record at the time of his retirement, and currently fourth all-t ...

. His freshman season in 1978–79 was limited to one game due to injury and Kitchel watched from the bench as the Hoosiers won the 1979 National Invitation Tournament. Kitchel came back the next season in a reserve role, then became a starter in 1980–81, averaging 9.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game on the 1981 National Championship squad. The next two seasons, Kitchel became one of the stars of the Hoosiers. He averaged 19.6 and 17.3 points per game as a junior and senior, leading the team in scoring in 1981–82 and finishing second to

Randy Wittman Randy Scott Wittman (born October 28, 1959) is an American former basketball player at the guard position and former coach of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Washington Wizards. Playing career High school Wittman starr ...

his senior year. Kitchel was named All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

and All-America both years as he led the Hoosiers to NCAA Tournament appearances in each season. In the Summer following his junior year, Kitchel and IU teammate Jim Thomas were named to the USA men's national team for the 1982 FIBA World Championship in

Cali, Colombia Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...

. Kitchel played in six of the team's nine games, averaging 2.2 points per game as the Americans earned a silver medal, losing to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

by a single point in the final. Following his college career, Kitchel was selected by the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

in the second round of the 1983 NBA draft (41st pick overall), but did not make the final roster. Kitchel played professionally in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

.Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame profile
Since the end of his playing days, Kitchel has remained a familiar face to IU fans as color commentator for Indiana games on regional television.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitchel, Ted 1959 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Indiana Basketball players from Indiana Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players Milwaukee Bucks draft picks People from Howard County, Indiana Small forwards United States men's national basketball team players 1982 FIBA World Championship players