Clifton Reece Gaines (born January 7, 1981) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player and former assistant coach at

Austin Spurs The Austin Spurs are an American basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cedar Park, Texas, and are affiliated with the San Antonio Spurs. The team plays their home games at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. The team has made the postseason in 8 ...

. He is currently a video coordinator for

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

High school and college career

Gaines, a 6'6", 205 lb (1.98 m, 93 kg) shooting guard, played

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

basketball at Madison West in his hometown of

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

. He then played four years at

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one o ...

, earning AP All-America 3rd team honors his senior season while leading the Cardinals to a 25–7 win–loss record. He's considered one of the best all-time

shooting guards 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 ...

for the Louisville Cardinal basketball program. He ranks among the top-five Louisville leaders in made three-point field goals (225),

free throws In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

(456), and assists (475). Dwyane Wade of the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...

once called Reece Gaines "the best college basketball player he ever faced".

NBA career

Gaines was drafted by the Orlando Magic in the first round (15th overall) of the

2003 NBA draft The 2003 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2003, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The NBA announced that 41 college and high school players and a record 31 international players had filed as early-entry candidates ...

and signed with the club on July 18, 2003. He spent one season on the bench in Orlando (1.8 points, 1.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists in 38 games) before being traded to the Houston Rockets (along with

Tracy McGrady Tracy Lamar McGrady Jr. (born May 24, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player, best known for his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). McGrady is a seven-time NBA All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, two- ...

Juwan Howard Juwan Antonio Howard (born February 7, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player and current head coach of the Michigan Wolverines men's team. A one-time All-Star and one-time All-NBA power forward, he began his NBA career ...

and Tyronn Lue) in exchange for Steve Francis,

Cuttino Mobley Cuttino Rashawn Mobley (born September 1, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association from 1998 to 2008. He played college basketball for the Rhode Island Rams, earning conference p ...

and Kelvin Cato. Gaines played ten games with the Rockets (2.6 points, 1.1 rebounds, 0.3 assists per game), spending the majority of his time on the injured list. He was traded again on February 24, 2005 (with two future second-round picks) to 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 ...

for Mike James and Zendon Hamilton. Gaines saw even less playing time with the Bucks during the second half of the 2004–05 season, playing a total of 79 minutes (1.4 points, 0.3 rebounds, 0.4 assists) in 11 games. Gaines's playing time decreased even more with the Bucks in the 2005–06 season, appearing in 12 games, and playing 52 minutes (1.1 points, no rebounds, 0.3 assists). Gaines' final NBA game was played on February 12, 2006, in a 79 - 94 loss to the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

where he recorded 2 assists and 1 steal.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 2003–04 , align="left" ,

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

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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 i ...

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Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

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, 12 , , 0 , , 4.5 , , .500 , , .000 , , .250 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 1.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 71 , , 1 , , 8.5 , , .324 , , .269 , , .606 , , 0.7 , , 0.7 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 1.7

International career

In 2006, he moved to Italy where he played for Angelico Biella, Armani Jeans Milano and Benetton Treviso. In 2009, he joined the

Bakersfield Jam Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's pop ...

, with whom he averaged 14.3 points and 4.0 assists per game. In December 2010 he signed with

JA Vichy Jeanne d'Arc de Vichy-Clermont Métropole was a professional basketball club based in Vichy, France. The club played their home games at both Maison des Sports de Clermont-Ferrand and Palais des Sports de Vichy. In 2015, JA Vichy and Stade Clermo ...

in France. In January 2012 Gaines signed a 30-day contract with the Fürstenfeld Panthers in Austria. On February 2, 2012, the Panthers announced that the contract with Gaines would not be extended.

Coaching career

In 2012, Gaines was hired as an assistant coach at Bellarmine University, where he coached for three seasons. While at Bellarmine, he helped the Knights to three straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 and a Final Four trip. In 2015, Gaines became an assistant coach at

Eastern Kentucky University Eastern Kentucky University (Eastern or EKU) is a public university in Richmond, Kentucky. As a regional comprehensive institution, EKU also maintains branch campuses in Corbin, Hazard, Lancaster, and Manchester and offers over 40 online u ...

. In 2018, Gaines was named acting coach after Head Coach Dan McHale's contract was terminated. On November 5, 2019, the

announced that they had named Gaines as assistant coach.

References

External links

NBA.com Profile – Reece Gaines
*https://web.archive.org/web/20060712103208/http://www.sportsstats.com/jazzyj/greats/03/gaines.htm
NBA D-League Profile – Reece Gaines
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaines, Reece 1981 births Living people African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Austria American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball players Austin Spurs coaches Bakersfield Jam players Basketball coaches from Wisconsin Basketball players from Wisconsin BSC Fürstenfeld Panthers players Bellarmine Knights men's basketball coaches CB Granada players Eastern Kentucky Colonels men's basketball coaches Greek Basket League players Houston Rockets players JA Vichy players Louisville Cardinals men's basketball players Milwaukee Bucks players Olimpia Milano players Orlando Magic draft picks Orlando Magic players Pallacanestro Biella players Pallacanestro Treviso players Peristeri B.C. players Point guards Sportspeople from Madison, Wisconsin Texas Legends players Madison West High School alumni 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people