Keith Larnell Gatlin (born December 23, 1964) is an American

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 (appro ...

coach and former professional player who is an assistant coach for the High Point Panthers. He was one of the best players of the high school class of 1983, and committed to play college basketball for the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's college sports in the United States, varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate ...

. After three seasons, Gatlin sat out one year during the 1986–87 season for academic reasons; he came back for his senior year in 1987–88. His 649 assists rank 3rd all-time for Maryland. After graduating from college, he went on to play professional basketball for 13 years, mainly in Europe: he led the German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

in scoring in the 1997–98 season and was named an All-Star in Greece, Germany, and France. After a 9-year experience as head coach of

Wesleyan Christian Academy Wesleyan Christian Academy is a K–12 private, college preparatory, Christian school located in High Point, North Carolina, United States. It is accredited by Cognia and the Association of Christian Schools International. History In 1971, Wes ...

he was named assistant coach at High Point University.

High school career

Gatlin was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

but later moved to the state of

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

: he lived in

Grimesland, North Carolina Grimesland is a town in Pitt County, North Carolina, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 386. The town is a part of the Greenville Metropolitan Area located in North Carolina's Inner Banks. History Grimesland was named for Gen ...

and attended D. H. Conley High School in Greenville. He soon entered the varsity basketball team, playing since 1980. Under coach Shelley Marsh he became the best player of the team, and in his junior year he averaged 22 points per game.''Maryland 85–86 Media Guide'', University of Maryland, 1985, p. 15. His senior year was his most successful: he averaged 25.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 2 blocks and 2.5 steals. His team finished the season with a 22–4 record. Gatlin was considered one of the top guards of the 1983 class, and at the end of the year he was named the North Carolina player of the year,''Maryland 85–86 Media Guide'', University of Maryland, 1985, p. 14. was selected in the ''Parade'' All-America Second Team and earned a spot in the

McDonald's All-American Game The McDonald's All-American Game is an American all-star basketball game played each year for boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the conclusion of the hi ...

. In the

1983 McDonald's All-American Boys Game The 1983 McDonald's All-American Boys Game was an All-star game, All-star basketball game played on Saturday, April 9, 1983 at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia. The game's rosters featured the best and most highly recruited high school boys ...

he scored 8 points, shooting 3 for 6 from the field and 2 for 2 from the

free throw 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 ...

line. 1983 game and rosters at page 69. He also played in the 1983 Capital Classic in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

where he scored 18 points on 5 for 12 shooting and 8 for 8 from the foul line. In his career at Conley he scored 1,612 points, with a 56% field goal percentage and shooting 92% on free throws, and he also averaged at least 6 assists per game in each season he played.

College career

Gatlin was heavily recruited during his high school career, and received offers from 210 colleges; he committed to Maryland in October 1982, choosing to major in radio and television. He chose to wear jersey number 3 and in his freshman year he started 9 games out of the 32 he played, averaging 6.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 23.7 minutes per game: he recorded a season-high 19 points vs.

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

and 10 assists in the ACC championship final versus

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

, during which Maryland won the

1984 ACC men's basketball tournament The 1984 ACC men's basketball tournament was held in Greensboro, North Carolina, at the Greensboro Coliseum from March 9–11. Maryland defeated Duke, 74–62, to win the championship. Len Bias of Maryland was named the tournament MVP. Bracke ...

. He ranked 6th in the ACC in assists, leading all freshmen in the conference. In his sophomore season Gatlin was named a starter by coach

Lefty Driesell Charles Grice "Lefty" Driesell (December 25, 1931 – February 17, 2024) was an American college basketball coach. He was the first coach to win more than 100 games at four different NCAA Division I schools, Driesell led the programs of Davidson ...

, and he improved in all statistical categories: in 30.6 minutes per game he averaged 8.3 points, 1.9 rebounds and 6.0 assists. His 221 assists for the season were a new Maryland single-season record: during the game against Wake Forest on February 24, 1985 he surpassed former record holder

John Lucas II John Harding Lucas II (born October 31, 1953) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played basketba ...

, who had totalled 178 assists in the 1974–75 season. On January 30, 1985 vs

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

he had 13 assists, which became the new single-game record for Maryland. On February 28, 1985 he scored a then career-high 28 points against Clemson with remarkable efficiency: he shot 14 for 15 from the field. He started 35 of his 37 games. Gatlin returned his junior year with a more important role within the team, since coach Driesell believed he was one of the key players for Maryland. He averaged career-highs in points (10.2), rebounds (2.7) and assists (6.4); he had one of his best performances against

on February 20, 1986: in the final moments of the game, which went to overtime, he scored 2 free throws, securing Maryland's lead for a score of 75–72, and with 0:07 remaining he threw an inbound pass off the back of

Kenny Smith Kenneth Smith (born March 8, 1965) is an American sports commentator and former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Jet", he played in the NBA from 1987 to 1997 as a member of the Sacramen ...

, got the ball back and scored a layup, bringing the final score to 77–72. After the death of

Len Bias Leonard Kevin Bias (November 18, 1963June 19, 1986) was an American college basketball player for the Maryland Terrapins. In the last of his four years playing for Maryland, he was named a consensus first-team All-American. Two days after being s ...

, which happened after the end of the 1985–86 season, the Maryland program was in turmoil and several players were suspended for skipping class and having poor grades: Gatlin was one of them. He was suspended for academic issues and missed the entire 1986–87 season, which was supposed to be his senior year in college basketball. He came back to the team the following year, even though he had a smaller role: he became more of a scorer but his overall playing time decreased, and he started only 10 of 21 games. He averaged 12.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 0.9 steals in 27 minutes per game. He was significantly efficient from the 3-point line, making 56 of his 113 attempts for a 49.6% shooting percentage. In his 4 years at Maryland he averaged 8.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists, with totals of 1,087 points and 649 assists. His 649 assists were an all-time record for Maryland at the time, and rank 3rd as of 2018.

College statistics

, - , align="left" , 1983–84 , align="left" ,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, 32 , , 9 , , 23.7 , , .487 , , – , , .762 , , 1.6 , , 4.6 , , 0.6 , , 0.0 , , 6.2 , - , align="left" , 1984–85 , align="left" ,

, 37 , , 35 , , 30.6 , , .514 , , – , , .862 , , 1.9 , , 6.0 , , 0.7 , , 0.1 , , 8.3 , - , align="left" , 1985–86 , align="left" ,

, 32 , , 30 , , 33.2 , , .475 , , – , , .784 , , 2.7 , , 6.4 , , 0.8 , , 0.2 , , 10.2 , - , align="left" , 1987–88 , align="left" ,

, 21 , , 10 , , 27.0 , , .506 , , .496 , , .758 , , 3.0 , , 3.6 , , 0.9 , , 0.1 , , 12.2 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , , 122 , , 84 , , 28.9 , , .494 , , .496 , , .795 , , 2.2 , , 5.3 , , 0.7 , , 0.1 , , 8.9 , -

Professional career

Gatlin was automatically eligible for the

1988 NBA draft The 1988 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1988, in New York City, New York. The length was reduced from seven rounds in the previous year to three rounds. This was also the first draft for the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat, prior to their i ...

, but he was not selected by an NBA team. He was drafted in the second round of the 1988 CBA draft (18th overall) by the

Rockford Lightning The Rockford Lightning was a basketball team that played in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). They were based in Rockford, Illinois. History The Lightning were the oldest team in the CBA, originally existing as the Lancaster Red R ...

. He played the 1988–89 CBA season with the Tulsa Fast Breakers and the Quad City Thunder: for Quad City he played 13 regular season games averaging 7.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists and in 6 playoff games he averaged 7.7 points, 2.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 20.8 minutes per game. He also joined the Worcester Counts in the

World Basketball League World Basketball League (WBL) was a minor professional basketball league in the United States and Canada which operated from 1988 to 1992. It was founded as the International Basketball Association in November 1987, before changing its name prior ...

; he then returned to the CBA and played again for the Quad City Thunder: in 5 games of the 1989–90 season he averaged 6.6 points, 1.4 rebounds and 5.8 assists He then finished the season with the Pensacola Tornados, and in 4 playoff games he posted averages of 8.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists in 19.3 minutes per game. In 1990 he joined the New Haven Skyhawks of the

United States Basketball League The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

, and he was free throw percentage leader with .899 in 1991. He then transferred to the Greensboro City Gaters of the

Global Basketball Association The Global Basketball Association (GBA) was a professional basketball minor league based in the United States. The majority of the league's franchises were based in the Southern United States, with the remaining teams located in the Midwest. The le ...

for the 1991–92 season. In 1993 he moved to Europe and joined German club Brandt Hagen, where he played until 1996. After one season in Greece with Panionios, he went back to Germany, this time signing for MTV Gießen: he was the top scorer of the Bundesliga for the 1997–98 season, averaging 23.3 points per game. He was named an All-Star and he also won the 3-point shooting contest during the 1997

BBL All-Star Game The BBL All-Star Game is the annual All-Star Game of the German first-division basketball league, the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL). The event is based on the original NBA concept and includes a slam dunk contest and a three-point shootout. Since 2 ...

. He scored a total of 2,761 points during his years in the Bundesliga. After the successful year in Germany he moved to France, where he joined

LNB Pro A LNB may refer to: Sport * Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, a professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, an Argentine basketball league * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (Paraguay), Liga Nacional de Básquetb ...

team Élan Chalon: in 30 games played he averaged 18.8 points (3rd in the league) in 1998–99 on 54.9% shooting while also averaging 2.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.2 steals in 34.5 minutes per game. He was one of the best assistmen in the league in 1999–2000 with an average of 5.0 per game, and also recorded 15.9 points per game with a field goal percentage of 48.7% (90.3% from the free throw line), and added 3.2 rebounds and 0.9 steals in 33.9 minutes. These numbers earned him a selection in the All-Star team and in the All-Import 2nd team. He then ended his career after playing one year for Al Riyadi in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Coaching career

After retiring from professional basketball Gatlin started coaching, first as assistant coach at

Greensboro Day School Greensboro Day School is a private, day, college preparatory school located in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. It enrolls students from age 2 through grade 12. History The school was established in 1970. The school initially leased ...

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

and in 2008 he was appointed as the head coach of Veritas Academy in

Kernersville, North Carolina Kernersville is a town in Forsyth County, North Carolina, Forsyth County, North Carolina, and the largest suburb of Winston-Salem. A small portion of the town is also in Guilford County, North Carolina, Guilford County. The population was 26,481 ...

. He then transferred to Wesleyan Christian Academy in July 2009. During his time at Wesleyan he won two back-to-back NCISAA championships in 2013 and 2014; in July 2018

Tubby Smith Orlando Henry "Tubby" Smith (born June 30, 1951) is an American college basketball coach who last coached the men's basketball team at High Point University, his alma mater. Smith previously served in the same role at the University of Tulsa, t ...

chose him for the assistant coach position at High Point University.

Bibliography

References

External links

Career stats at ProBallers.comProfile at RealGM.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gatlin, Keith 1964 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Lebanon American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from New Jersey Basketball coaches from North Carolina Basketball players from Newark, New Jersey Basketball players from North Carolina Élan Chalon players Giessen 46ers players High school basketball coaches in the United States High Point Panthers men's basketball coaches Maryland Terrapins men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Panionios B.C. players Pensacola Tornados (1986–1991) players Point guards Quad City Thunder players Shooting guards Tulsa Fast Breakers players Al Riyadi Club Beirut basketball players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen