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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player and former assistant coach at

Austin Spurs The Austin Spurs are an American professional 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 po ...

. He is currently the head coach for the Newfoundland Rogues.

High school and college career

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

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 basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

, played

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

basketball at Madison West in his hometown of

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

. He then played four years at

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

, 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 ...

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 Key (basketball), restricted ...

(456), and assists (475).

Dwyane Wade Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. ( or , born January 17, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player who is currently the co-owner of the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association. He is also currently the host of the American a ...

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 Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

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

NBA career

Gaines was drafted by 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 ...

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 The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

(along with

Tracy McGrady Tracy Lamar McGrady Jr. (born May 24, 1979), nicknamed T-Mac, 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-N ...

Juwan Howard Juwan Antonio Howard ( ; born February7, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously served as the head coach ...

and

Tyronn Lue Tyronn Jamar Lue ( ; born May 3, 1977) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He formerly served as the head coach of the Clev ...

) in exchange for

Steve Francis Steven D'Shawn Francis (born February 21, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. He was selected with the second overall pick of the 1999 NBA draft and was named co-NBA Rookie of the Year (along with Elton Brand) in his fi ...

, Cuttino Mobley 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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

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 or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

where he recorded 2 assists and 1 steal.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

, 38 , , 1 , , 9.6 , , .291 , , .300 , , .640 , , 1.0 , , 1.1 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 1.8 , - , align="left" , 2004–05 , align="left" ,

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, 10 , , 0 , , 10.8 , , .370 , , .250 , , .750 , , 1.1 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 2.6 , - , align="left" , 2004–05 , align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, 11 , , 0 , , 7.2 , , .304 , , .500 , , .000 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 1.4 , - , align="left" , 2005–06 , align="left" ,

, 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, 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 Cler ...

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 Bellarmine University ( ; BU) is a private university, private Catholic university in Louisville, Kentucky, UNited States. It opened on October 3, 1950, as Bellarmine College, established by Archbishop John A. Floersh of the Archdiocese of Louis ...

, 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. It also maintains branch campuses in Corbin, Hazard, and Manchester and offers over 40 online undergraduate and graduate options. History Founding ...

. 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

*
Reece Gaines, LouisvilleNBA D-League Profile – Reece Gaines
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaines, Reece 1981 births Living people 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 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 Basketball players from Madison, Wisconsin Texas Legends players Madison West High School alumni 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen