Kerry Kittles (born June 12, 1974) is an 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 ...

coach and former player. He was raised in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

and attended

St. Augustine High School The name St. Augustine High School could refer to: In the United States: * St. Augustine Academy (Lakewood, Ohio) * St. Augustine High School (Laredo, Texas) * St. Augustine High School (New Orleans), Louisiana * St. Augustine High School (San Di ...

. He was an assistant coach at

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

from 2016 to 2018. The ,

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

attended

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinians in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Sa ...

and was later selected by the New Jersey Nets with the eighth pick in the

1996 NBA draft The 1996 NBA draft was the 50th draft in the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held on June 26, 1996 at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting college basketball play ...

. He sat out his entire fifth season, in 2000–01, due to rehabilitation from off-season surgery on his right knee. After seven seasons with the Nets, Kittles was traded to the Clippers in a salary purge. After one injury-riddled year with the Los Angeles Clippers, Kittles retired from the NBA. Kittles completed an MBA at Villanova University's School of Business. He holds the Villanova University record for most points scored, with 2,243, was inducted into the team's Hall of Fame and had his #30 retired by the school. Kittles is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.

High school career

Kittles attended

and was considered to be one of the best basketball talents to ever come out of New Orleans. He led St. Augustine to a 66–5 record in his last two seasons while also earning first-team all-metro and all-state honors under head coach Bernard Griffith. As a junior, Kittles led the Purple Knights to the 1991 state finals. As a senior he averaged 22.5 points per game for St. Augustine as they finished with a 32–3 record. The team defeated

John Ehret High School John Ehret High School is a four-year public high school serving grades 9–12 located in unincorporated Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, near Marrero. The school, a part of the Jefferson Parish Public Schools, serves several communiti ...

in the 1992 Class 5A state championship game. He was named Louisiana Mr. Basketball in 1992.

College career

After finishing high school, Kittles attended

and played for its Wildcats basketball team. Kittles' commitment to Villanova was a surprise to Louisiana basketball fans by going out of state. Kittles contemplated on transferring when head coach Rollie Massimino left for UNLV before his freshman year. New head coach,

Steve Lappas Stephan Thomas Lappas (born March 18, 1954) is an American former college basketball coach. He coached at Manhattan (1988–1992), Villanova (1992–2001) and UMass (2001–2005), compiling a 280–237 (.542) record over a 17-year coaching ca ...

flew to New Orleans the day after he was hired to convince Kittles to stay at Villanova. Possessing an accurate quick trigger jump shot from the deep while using his long athletic frame to drive and finish strong at the rim, as well as being a heady player with tenacious defensive will, would allow Kittles to become one of the most decorated players ever in the school's history. Kittles ended his college career as Villanova's all-time leader for most points (2,243) and steals (277). As a sophomore he led the Wildcats to the 1994 NIT Championship. Kittles made All-Big East as a junior averaging 21.4 points per game and led Villanova to the 1995 Big East tournament championship. He won the Big East tournament MVP award and would garner Consensus All-American honors. In his senior season, Kittles averaged 20 points per game, was named All-Big 5 Player of the Year for the second time, and again received All-Big East and All-American honors with Villanova earning a national no. 2 rank at one point but getting upset in the NCAA Tournament by Louisville in the second round.

Professional career

In the

, Kittles was selected eighth overall by the New Jersey Nets. Kittles made the

NBA All-Rookie Second Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for playe ...

for the 1996–97 season, after averaging 16.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1.9 steals a game. On April 13, 1997, Kittles scored a career-best 40 points in a 123–132 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. That same season, he set the Nets' franchise record and NBA rookie record for three-point field goals made with 158. Kittles enjoyed a productive seven-year stint starting at shooting guard for the Nets. However, after he averaged 16.4 points per game as a rookie, followed by 17.2 points per game as a second-year player, knee injuries began to slow his game. Kittles would have four operations in five years. He missed the 2000–01 season due to a knee injury. He posted three seasons shooting over 40 percent from the three-point range and helped Jason Kidd to take the Nets to back to back NBA Finals appearances in 2002 and 2003. After leaving the Nets, Kittles ranked in the team's history as seventh in field goals (2,751), third in three-point field goals (687) and third in steals (803). Kittles ended his nine-year NBA career with one injury-riddled season with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Coaching career

Kittles was an assistant coach at

from 2016 to 2018.

Personal life

Kittles, together with his wife, four daughters and one son, has been a resident of Harding Township, New Jersey. Kittles is Catholic and religion is an important part of his life. He chose to attend Villanova because it is a Catholic institution, stating at the time:

"It was a smaller institution, it was a Catholic school, its basketball games were on television and I had the opportunity to play. But the biggest factor was its graduation rate."

Kittles eventually became a Eucharistic Minister in 1996, which he still volunteers as, as of 2020. Kittles gained his Master of Business Administration from Villanova in 2009 and is a member of the Board of Trustees.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New Jersey , 82 , , 57 , , 36.7 , , .426 , , .377 , , .771 , , 3.9 , , 3.0 , , 1.9 , , .4 , , 16.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New Jersey , 77 , , 76 , , 36.5 , , .440 , , .418 , , .808 , , 4.7 , , 2.3 , , 1.7 , , .5 , , 17.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New Jersey , 46 , , 40 , , 34.1 , , .370 , , .316 , , .772 , , 4.2 , , 2.5 , , 1.7 , , .6 , , 12.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New Jersey , 62 , , 61 , , 30.6 , , .437 , , .400 , , .795 , , 3.6 , , 2.3 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , 13.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New Jersey , 82 , , 82 , , 31.7 , , .466 , , .405 , , .744 , , 3.4 , , 2.6 , , 1.6 , , .4 , , 13.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New Jersey , 65 , , 57 , , 30.0 , , .467 , , .356 , , .785 , , 3.9 , , 2.6 , , 1.6 , , .5 , , 13.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New Jersey , 82 , , 82 , , 34.7 , , .453 , , .351 , , .787 , , 4.0 , , 2.5 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , 13.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

L.A. 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 ...

, 11 , , 0 , , 22.1 , , .384 , , .333 , , .600 , , 2.9 , , 1.8 , , .7 , , .3 , , 6.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 507 , , 455 , , 33.4 , , .439 , , .378 , , .780 , , 3.9 , , 2.6 , , 1.6 , , .4 , , 14.1

Playoffs

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

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, style="text-align:left;", New Jersey , 3 , , 3 , , 42.0 , , .425 , , .385 , , .909 , , 5.0 , , 2.7 , , 1.3 , , .7 , , 16.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, style="text-align:left;", New Jersey , 20 , , 20 , , 29.0 , , .435 , , .265 , , .778 , , 3.2 , , 2.3 , , 1.6 , , .5 , , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, style="text-align:left;", New Jersey , 20 , , 20 , , 30.7 , , .395 , , .413 , , .762 , , 3.5 , , 2.0 , , 1.5 , , .3 , , 10.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, style="text-align:left;", New Jersey , 11 , , 11 , , 37.7 , , .448 , , .327 , , .618 , , 4.3 , , 2.1 , , 2.0 , , .9 , , 14.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 54 , , 54 , , 32.1 , , .424 , , .337 , , .742 , , 3.6 , , 2.1 , , 1.6 , , .5 , , 12.3

College

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

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...

, style="text-align:left;", Villanova , 27 , , , , 32.4 , , .482 , , .432 , , .673 , , 3.5 , , 2.9 , , 1.7 , , .4 , , 10.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1993–94 , style="text-align:left;", Villanova , 32 , , , , 39.3 , , .452 , , .349 , , .705 , , 6.5 , , 3.4 , , 2.7 , , .4 , , 19.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1994–95 , style="text-align:left;", Villanova , 33 , , 33 , , 36.9 , , .524 , , .411 , , .767 , , 6.1 , , 3.5 , , 2.2 , , .4 , , 21.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1995–96 , style="text-align:left;", Villanova , 30 , , 29 , , 35.3 , , .455 , , .404 , , .710 , , 7.1 , , 3.5 , , 2.4 , , .4 , , 20.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 122 , , 62 , , 36.1 , , .478 , , .394 , , .719 , , 5.9 , , 3.3 , , 2.3 , , .4 , , 18.4

References

External links

Princeton profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kittles, Kerry 1974 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players African-American Catholics All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players American Roman Catholics Basketball coaches from Louisiana Basketball coaches from Ohio Basketball players from New Orleans Basketball players from Dayton, Ohio Los Angeles Clippers players Medalists at the 1995 Summer Universiade New Jersey Nets draft picks New Jersey Nets players People from Harding Township, New Jersey Princeton Tigers men's basketball coaches Shooting guards Small forwards St. Augustine High School (New Orleans) alumni Universiade gold medalists for the United States Universiade medalists in basketball Villanova Wildcats men's basketball players