Kerr Kriisa

Kerr Kriisa
Kriisa with Arizona in 2021
No. 77 – Kentucky Wildcats
PositionPoint guard
LeagueSoutheastern Conference
Personal information
Born (2001-01-02) 2 January 2001 (age 23)
Tartu, Estonia
Listed height1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Listed weight86 kg (190 lb)
Career information
College
Playing career2016–present
Career history
2016–2017Tartu Ülikool
2017–2018Brose Bamberg
2017–2018→Baunach Young Pikes
2018–2020Žalgiris
2018–2020→Žalgiris-2
2019–2020→Prienai

Kerr Kriisa (born 2 January 2001) is an Estonian college basketball player for the Kentucky Wildcats of the Southeastern Conference. He previously played for the Arizona Wildcats and West Virginia Mountaineers. Listed at 6 feet 3 inches (1.9 m) and 190 pounds (86.2 kg), he plays the point guard position. A native of Tartu, he has competed with Estonian junior national teams on multiple occasions.

Early career

2016–2018: Early years

Kriisa played for the youth teams of his hometown club BC Tartu since he was 12 years old and debuted with Tartu Ülikool in the 2016–17 KML season at the age of 15. In September 2017 he signed with Brose Bamberg and started playing in their affiliate team Baunach Young Pikes.[1] His stint in Germany was cut short due to periostitis and he returned to Estonia for treatment.[2]

2018–2020: Žalgiris

In August 2018, he signed with Žalgiris.[3] In his first year with the Kaunas team Kriisa played on the Lithuanian second league (NKL) team Žalgiris-2 and also for the youth team in the Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament. He was awarded with the MVP and All-Tournament Team honours at the Kaunas Qualifying Tournament. Kriisa averaged 17.3 points, 4.7 assists and 2.7 rebounds over 7 games in the 2018–19 season of Next Generation Tournament.[4]

Kriisa made his EuroLeague debut for Žalgiris on 25 October 2019 and scored his first point from a free throw as Žalgiris defeated LDLC ASVEL 70–56 in the Regular Season Round 4 game.[5] In November 2019 Kriisa was sent on loan to another Lithuanian team CBet Prienai to gain experience in the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL).[6] His loan spell ended in January 2020 and Kriisa returned to Žalgiris-2.[7]

College career

2020–2023: Arizona Wildcats

On April 18, 2020, Kriisa committed to play college basketball in the United States for Arizona. Analysts considered him to be the best European recruit considering playing at the collegiate level.[8] After head coach Sean Miller was fired, he entered the NCAA transfer portal while leaving the option of returning to Arizona open. New head coach Tommy Lloyd was able to recruit him back to Arizona for his sophomore season.[9]

As a junior, Kriisa averaged 9.9 points and 5.1 assists per game. Following the 2022–23 season, Kriisa announced that he would enter the transfer portal again.[10]

2023–24: West Virginia Mountaineers

Kriisa announced on April 5, 2023 that he intended to transfer to West Virginia.[11] After head coach Bob Huggins resigned following a DUI arrest, Kriisa initially announced on June 23 he was reentering the transfer portal. NCAA rules allow any student-athlete to enter the portal within 30 days after a head coaching change.[12] Two days later, after top Huggins assistant Josh Eilert was named interim head coach for the 2023–24 season, Kriisa left the portal and announced he would stay at West Virginia.[13]

After drawing an NCAA suspension for the first nine games of the 2023–24 season, Kriisa returned to start the rest of the Mountaineers' games, averaging 11.0 points and 4.7 assists and also leading the team in three-pointers. With a fifth year of college eligibility due to the NCAA granting such to all basketball players active in the COVID-impacted 2020–21 season, Kriisa entered the transfer portal again at the end of the 2023–24 season,[14] announcing on May 1 that he would play his final college season at Kentucky.[15]

National team career

Kriisa has represented the Estonia national U-16 team at the 2016 and 2017 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championships and the Estonia national U-18 team at the 2019 FIBA Europe Under-18 Division B Championship.[16]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

EuroLeague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2019–20 Žalgiris 1 0 2.1 .000 .000 .500 .0 .0 .0 .0 1.0 .0
Career 1 0 2.1 .000 .000 .500 .0 .0 .0 .0 1.0 .0

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2020–21 Arizona 8 5 22.9 .333 .368 1.000 .5 2.4 .4 .0 5.5
2021–22 Arizona 33 31 29.6 .348 .336 .816 2.5 4.7 .6 .1 9.7
2022–23 Arizona 35 34 31.1 .372 .366 .767 2.4 5.1 .6 .0 9.9
2023–24 West Virginia 23 23 33.5 .429 .424 .775 2.5 4.7 .8 0.0 11.0
Career 99 93 30.5 .375 .368 .788 2.3 4.7 .6 .1 9.7

Personal life

Kerr is the son of former professional basketball player Valmo Kriisa.[17] He is named after Steve Kerr, who also played basketball at the University of Arizona.[18]

References

  1. ^ "Kerr Kriisa siirdub Saksamaale Brose Bambergi noortesüsteemi". Delfi Sport (in Estonian). 6 September 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  2. ^ "Vigastatud Kerr Kriisa lahkus Bambergist". ERR Sport (in Estonian). 15 January 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  3. ^ "Kerr Kriisa sõlmis lepingu Leedu tippklubi Kaunase Žalgirisega". Postimees Sport (in Estonian). 6 August 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Kerr Kriisa 2018-19 ANGT statistics". ADIDAS Next Generation Tournament. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  5. ^ "Zalgiris Kaunas vs. LDLD ASVEL Villerubanne - Game". EuroLeague. 25 October 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  6. ^ "Leedu portaal: Kerr Kriisa liitub sealse kõrgliigaklubiga". Korvpall24. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.(in Estonian)
  7. ^ "Kerr Kriisa naaseb Žalgirisse: mängunälg läks Prienais väga suureks". Delfi Sport. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.(in Estonian)
  8. ^ Givony, Jonathan (18 April 2020). "Top international prospect Kerr Kriisa commits to Arizona". ESPN. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  9. ^ Kelapire, Ryan (21 April 2021). "Kerr Kriisa withdraws from transfer portal, will stay at Arizona". Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  10. ^ Givony, Jonathan (22 March 2023). "Arizona's Kerr Kriisa, Pac-12 assist leader, entering portal". ESPN. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Arizona's Kerr Kriisa, top PG transfer, commits to West Virginia".
  12. ^ Givony, Jonathan (23 June 2023). "West Virginia's Kerr Kriisa to enter portal after Huggins' exit". ESPN.com. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  13. ^ Borzello, Jeff (25 June 2023). "Kerr Kriisa to stay at WVU, set 'to do something very special'". ESPN.com. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  14. ^ Carey, Greg (2 April 2024). "Kriisa enters transfer portal". West Virginia Metro News. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  15. ^ Givony, Jonathan (1 May 2024). "West Virginia transfer Kerr Kriisa commits to Kentucky". ESPN.com. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  16. ^ "Kerr KRIISA at the FIBA U18 European Championship Division B 2019". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  17. ^ "TIPPHETKED ja FOTOD: Valmo ja Kerr Kriisa tegid Tartu võidumängus Eesti korvpalliajalugu". Sport (in Estonian). 24 February 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  18. ^ "Big-name pickup: Wildcats go to Estonia to land recruit named after former UA star Steve Kerr".