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Kris Wilkes

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Kris Wilkes
Wilkes with the UCLA Bruins in 2018
Free agent
PositionShooting guard / small forward
Personal information
Born (1998-09-18) September 18, 1998 (age 26)
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High schoolNorth Central (Indianapolis, Indiana)
CollegeUCLA (2017–2019)
NBA draft2019: undrafted
Playing career2024–present
Career highlights and awards

Kristafer Aaron Wilkes (born September 18, 1998)[1] is an American professional basketball player who is a free agent. As a high school senior, he was a McDonald's All-American and named Indiana Mr. Basketball. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. He was a starter as a freshman in 2017–18, when he was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. As a sophomore, he earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors in 2019. He went undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft.

High school career

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As a high school senior in 2017, he was selected to play in the McDonald's All-American Game[2] and was ranked as a consensus five-star prospect in the class of 2017. At the conclusion of his senior year, Wilkes was named Indiana Mr. Basketball and an Indiana All-Star.[3]

College career

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Ranked a consensus five-star college recruit,[4] Wilkes chose to play for UCLA over Indiana and Illinois.[5] The Bruins highest ranked recruit for 2017–18 ahead of guard Jaylen Hands,[6] he started in the season opener and scored a team-high 18 points in a 63–60 win over Georgia Tech.[7] On November 16, 2017, he had 20 points and a team-high 12 rebounds for his first career double-double in a 106–101 overtime win over Central Arkansas.[8][9] After averaging 16.8 points through the first four games, Wilkes began to struggle.[10] He was limited to single-digit scoring in three of four games before scoring 20 points in an 83–75 upset over No. 7 Kentucky.[11] On December 31, he scored 21 points in a 74–53 win over Washington.[12] On January 20, Wilkes scored another 21 in a 94–91 loss to Oregon.[13] In the rematch against Oregon, he scored 19 points and made a career-high five three-pointers in an 86–78 win in the Bruins' final home game.[14][15] In the regular-season finale, Wilkes scored a season-high 22 points and teammate Aaron Holiday had a career-high 34 in an 87–72 victory over USC, completing a season sweep in their crosstown rivalry and clinching a bye and the No. 4 seed for UCLA in the upcoming Pac-12 tournament.[16][17] He was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team.[18]

UCLA qualified for the 2018 NCAA tournament, but lost 65–58 to St. Bonaventure in the First Four. After starting all previous 32 games entering the tournament, Wilkes did not start the game, sitting out the first five minutes for disciplinary reasons after being late for a team bus earlier in the week.[19][20] He ended the year as UCLA's second-leading scorer and rebounder with averages of 13.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.[21] He declared for the 2018 NBA draft and attended the NBA Draft Combine, but later withdrew from the draft to return to the Bruins.[22][23][24] There were concerns among NBA executives about his durability given his narrow frame of 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 m) and 195 pounds (88 kg), and he figured to improve his standing with a more prominent role as a sophomore.[21]

In the 2018–19 season opener, Wilkes scored 27 points and added 10 rebounds in a 96–71 win over Purdue Fort Wayne.[25] On December 8, 2018, he made a game-winning three-pointer with 0.9 seconds remaining in a 65–62 win over Notre Dame.[26] On January 26, 2019, he scored a career-high 34 points on 12-of-16 shooting from the field to help UCLA end a three-game losing streak in a 90–69 win over Arizona.[27] On the road against California, Wilkes had 27 points and 10 rebounds to help the Bruins win 75–67 in overtime and end a three-game losing streak. "[Wilkes is] our best player, and that’s the way he's supposed to play", said interim coach Murry Bartow.[28] He finished the season as the Bruins leading scoring (17.4),[29] and was named second-team All-Pac-12.[30] While his scoring increased by almost four points per game from his freshman year, his field goal percentage dropped from 44.1 to 43.3.[29] After the season, which UCLA finished 17–16 and failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament, Wilkes declared again for the NBA draft.[31]

Professional career

[edit]

After not showing dramatic improvement as a UCLA sophomore, Wilkes went undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft.[32] He was expected to sign a two-way contract with the New York Knicks after general manager Scott Perry talked about him while introducing their 2019 draft picks.[33][34][35] However, Wilkes was unable to play in the 2019 NBA Summer League due to a severe, undisclosed illness,[33][36] and the Knicks signed Ivan Rabb with their remaining two-way slot.[36] Wilkes later described the illness as acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, a rare autoimmune disease.[37][38]

On October 27, 2024, Wilkes joined the Indiana Mad Ants,[39] but was waived on November 6.[40]

Career statistics

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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  Bold  Career high

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 UCLA 33 32 29.8 .441 .352 .655 4.9 1.7 .8 .5 13.7
2018–19 UCLA 33 33 31.7 .433 .337 .671 4.8 1.7 .6 .4 17.4
Career 66 65 30.8 .436 .343 .664 4.8 1.7 .7 .5 15.5

References

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  1. ^ "Kris Wilkes". NBA Draft.net.
  2. ^ Halley, Jim (February 22, 2017). "Kris Wilkes, with an eye toward the playoffs, gets his McDonald's jersey". USA Today. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  3. ^ Neddenriep, Kyle (June 10, 2017). "Kris Wilkes lost his No. 1 jersey, then helped Indiana All-Stars to a big win". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  4. ^ "Kris Wilkes". Verbal Commits. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  5. ^ Borzello, Jeff (November 13, 2016). "Five-star recruit Kris Wilkes chooses UCLA over Indiana, Illinois". ABC News. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  6. ^ Greene, Dan (August 24, 2017). "Kris Wilkes Should Be an Impact Player Right Away For UCLA". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on December 9, 2017.
  7. ^ "No. 21 UCLA survives to beat Georgia Tech 63-60". ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 11, 2017. Archived from the original on December 14, 2017.
  8. ^ Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (November 16, 2017). "Sloppy UCLA survives Central Arkansas in overtime". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017.
  9. ^ "No. 23 UCLA survives Central Arkansas in overtime". Reuters. November 16, 2017. Archived from the original on December 9, 2017.
  10. ^ Nguyen, Thuc Thi (November 15, 2017). "UCLA's short-handed freshmen steadily gain experience". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on December 18, 2017.
  11. ^ Nguyen, Thuc Thi (December 23, 2017). "UCLA knocks off No. 7 Kentucky". Inside UCLA. Archived from the original on December 24, 2017.
  12. ^ Fattal, Tarek (December 31, 2017). "Second-half runs anchor UCLA's comeback victory over Washington". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  13. ^ "UCLA Comeback Falls Short at Oregon, 94-91".
  14. ^ Bolch, Ben (February 17, 2018). "UCLA beats Oregon 86-78 in OT shootout". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 18, 2018.
  15. ^ "Holiday scores 29 as UCLA beats Oregon 86-78 in OT". ESPN.com. Associated Press. February 17, 2018. Archived from the original on February 18, 2018.
  16. ^ Bolch, Ben (March 3, 2018). "UCLA goes on a late run to sweep season series against USC". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 4, 2018.
  17. ^ "UCLA rallies to beat USC 87-72, ends 2-game skid". ESPN.com. Associated Press. March 3, 2018. Archived from the original on March 4, 2018.
  18. ^ Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (March 5, 2018). "UCLA's Aaron Holiday named first-team All-Pac-12, Thomas Welsh on second team". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on March 6, 2018.
  19. ^ Fenno, Nathan (March 13, 2018). "UCLA loses to St. Bonaventure in play-in game to the NCAA tournament". Los Angeles Times.
  20. ^ Rittenberg, Adam (March 14, 2018). "Bruins sit Kris Wilkes for opening minutes of loss to Bonnies". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on March 19, 2018.
  21. ^ a b Davis, Seth (June 26, 2018). "Summer School: With Hands and Wilkes back in the fold, UCLA is hoping for a happier ending". The Athletic. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  22. ^ Bolch, Ben (April 3, 2018). "UCLA's Kris Wilkes will test NBA waters without hiring an agent". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 6, 2018.
  23. ^ O'Connor, Kevin (May 21, 2018). "What We Saw and Heard at the 2018 NBA Draft Combine". The Ringer. Archived from the original on May 27, 2018.
  24. ^ Dauster, Rob (May 29, 2018). "Kris Wilkes to return to UCLA for sophomore season". NBC Sports. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  25. ^ Bolch, Ben (November 6, 2018). "UCLA's Kris Wilkes has career night in season-opening blowout". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  26. ^ Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (December 8, 2018). "UCLA stuns Notre Dame on injured Kris Wilkes' last-second 3-pointer". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  27. ^ Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (January 26, 2019). "Kris Wilkes scores career high as UCLA men's basketball ends losing streak". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  28. ^ Bolch, Ben (February 13, 2019). "UCLA struggles to keep ahead of last-place Cal in 75-67 overtime win". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  29. ^ a b Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (March 27, 2019). "UCLA guard Kris Wilkes declares for NBA draft with agent". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  30. ^ Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (March 11, 2019). "UCLA's Jaylen Hands, Kris Wilkes named All-Pac-12 second team". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  31. ^ Bolch, Ben (March 27, 2019). "UCLA's Kris Wilkes announces he's headed to the NBA". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  32. ^ Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (June 20, 2019). "UCLA's Jaylen Hands headed to Brooklyn Nets after going 56th in NBA draft". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  33. ^ a b Popper, Steve (July 2, 2019). "RJ Barrett keeps his focus on learning, trying to help Knicks". Newsday. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  34. ^ Berman, Marc (September 8, 2019). "Knicks summoning Kris Wilkes for new physical in last hope". New York Post. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  35. ^ Iseman, Chris (June 24, 2019). "New York Knicks: What to know about 2-way player Kris Wilkes". NorthJersey.com. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  36. ^ a b Bondy, Stefan (October 23, 2019). "Knicks sign forward Ivan Rabb to fill final roster spot". New York Daily News. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  37. ^ David Gardner (October 23, 2021). "His N.B.A. Dream Was Right There. Then He Couldn't Move His Legs". The New York Times.
  38. ^ Neddenriep, Kyle (October 23, 2021). "'Where is Kris Wilkes?' 2017 Mr. Basketball working way back after auto-immune disease". Indianapolis Star.
  39. ^ Mad Ants Basketball [@TheMadAnts] (October 27, 2024). "our 2024-25 training camp roster 🐜🔥" (Tweet). Retrieved October 28, 2024 – via Twitter.
  40. ^ "2024-2025 Indiana Mad Ants Transaction History". RealGM.com. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
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