Kiwane Lemorris Garris (born September 24, 1974) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He was listed as a ,

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

. Garris played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the College athletics, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's Varsity team, varsity sports. The university op ...

as a

. As a freshman in the 1993–94 season, Garris finished second on the team in scoring, behind Deon Thomas. In the next three seasons, Garris led the team in scoring and free-throw percentage. Garris also led the team in assists in the 1994–95 and 1996–97 seasons. Garris finished his career at Illinois as the second all-time leading scorer, behind former teammate Deon Thomas. Garris finished with 1948 career points, with a career scoring average of 16.8 points per game. During the NBA lockout he played for the US national team in the

1998 FIBA World Championship The 1998 FIBA World Championship was the 13th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was organised by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), and hosted in Greece ...

, winning the bronze medal.

Career

Although Garris was projected to be a late first round or early second round pick in the NBA Draft, he went undrafted, but signed as a free-agent with the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

. He had been signed for a brief period by

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

during their 1997 preseason but was waived. For the 1997-1998's 28 games he did 8MPG, 2.4 PPG. Playing for the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

during 1999–2000, 3 games, 7.7 MPG, 1.3 PPG. In 2002, he was signed by the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

(2002 preseason), but was again waived before the regular season. He has also played with the Grand Rapids Hoops of the CBA and for

Alba Berlin Alba Berlin is a professional basketball club that is based in Berlin, Germany. The club was founded in 1991, and is today the largest German national basketball club by membership figures. Alba Berlin hosts its home games at the Uber Arena and c ...

in Germany.

Italian League

For nine years he played overseas for the Italian teams Banca Popolare Ragusa (Serie A2, 2001–2002), Porte Garofoli Osimo (Serie A2, 2002–2003), Bipop-Carire Reggio Emilia (Serie A2, 2003–2004,

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

, 2004–2005), Climamio Bologna (2005–2006) (reached the Italian championship final and won Italian Supercup) and Armani Jeans Milano (2006–2007). After playing overseas in Italy for nine years from 2001 to 2010, Garris returned home.

Coaching career

He is a former assistant coach at Prairie State College and at Mountain View High School in Lawrenceville, GA. He hopes to become one of the assistant coaches at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

. Currently he is the coach of the Fulton Science Academy Private School varsity basketball team.

Personal

Garris has son Kai from a previous relationship.http://www.blackcelebkids.com/2008/08/19/syleena-johnsons-labor-pains/ Kiwane Garris Jr In July 2006 he became engaged to R&B and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

singer-songwriter Syleena Johnson. Johnson is a fellow Chicagoan. On August 1, 2007 after forty-four hours of labor, their son Kiwane Garris Jr was born. On Sunday, February 6, 2011, she gave birth to their second son, Kingston Garris He weighed 8 lb 5oz.https://twitter.com/Syleena_Johnson/status/34370671597326336 Kingston Weighed... He said Italy is "his home away from home".

References

External links

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Euroleague stats
@ 24sec.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Garris, Kiwane 1974 births Living people Alba Berlin players American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Poland American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball players Beşiktaş men's basketball players Denver Nuggets players Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna players George Westinghouse College Prep alumni Grand Rapids Hoops players Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players New Mexico Slam players Olimpia Milano players Orlando Magic players Pallacanestro Reggiana players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Point guards Reyer Venezia players Trotamundos de Carabobo players Undrafted NBA players United States men's national basketball team players 1998 FIBA World Championship players Basketball players from Chicago 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen