 Wiltjer with Unicaja in 2018 | |
| No. 33 – Umana Reyer Venezia | |
|---|---|
| Position | Power forward |
| League | Lega A |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1992-10-20)October 20, 1992 (age 33) Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Nationality | Canadian / American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) |
| Listed weight | 240 lb (109 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Jesuit (Beaverton, Oregon) |
| College | |
| NBA draft | 2016:undrafted |
| Playing career | 2016–present |
| Career history | |
| 2016–2017 | Houston Rockets |
| 2016–2017 | →Rio Grande Valley Vipers |
| 2017–2018 | Olympiacos Piraeus |
| 2018–2019 | Unicaja Malaga |
| 2019–2021 | Türk Telekom |
| 2021–2022 | Lenovo Tenerife |
| 2022–2023 | Zhejiang Lions |
| 2023–present | Reyer Venezia |
| Career highlights | |
| |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
Medals | |
Kyle Gregory Wiltjer (born October 20, 1992) is a Canadian-American professionalbasketball player forReyer Venezia Mestre of the ItalianLega Basket Serie A (LBA). He spent two seasons ofcollege basketball with theKentucky Wildcats before transferring to play with theGonzaga Bulldogs in 2013.[1] A dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada, he has played for theCanada national team.
Born and raised inPortland, Wiltjer attendedJesuit High School inBeaverton, Oregon, where he led the school to three consecutiveOregon state championships.
Wiltjer played in the2011 McDonald's All-American Game inChicago. He also played in the 2011Nike Hoop Summit in his hometown of Portland and in the 2011Jordan Brand Classic inCharlotte.
Wiltjer was ranked as the No. 18 recruit in the class of 2011 in theESPNU 100, the No. 25 recruit byRivals.com, and the No. 22 recruit byScout.com. He chose to play basketball for the University of Kentucky Wildcats and coachJohn Calipari on August 28, 2010. He had also consideredKansas,California,Texas,Gonzaga,Georgia Tech, andWake Forest.
Although he was a five-star recruit according to all of the recruiting analysts, Wiltjer never started a game his freshman season at Kentucky, and did not play as many minutes as fellow freshmenAnthony Davis,Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, andMarquis Teague. He averaged only 11.3 MPG and 4.8 PPG, although his three-point percentage was an impressive 42.5%. The Kentucky Wildcats won the2012 NCAA championship during Wiltjer's freshman year.
Wiltjer began the 2012–13 season as a starter. In his third game of the season, against Lafayette, he accumulated 23 points, two assists, and four rebounds. However, he would eventually settle into an off-the-bench role, being named the SEC's Sixth Man of the Year.
In April 2013, he had announced he would remain at Kentucky for his junior season. However, he eventually changed his mind, posting a letter on Kentucky's official athletic website on June 23 indicating that he would transfer in order to "compete the way I know I can. ... wherever that may be." A later report indicated that Wiltjer had drawn interest from three of the four Division I programs in his home state of Oregon (Oregon,Oregon State,Portland), Gonzaga,Stanford, and Texas. According to that report, "he left the door open to return to Kentucky if he can't find the right situation."[2] On July 19, multiple media outlets reported that Wiltjer had chosen Gonzaga.[3][4] The transfer became official the next day, when Gonzaga received a signed copy of a financial aid agreement. After sitting out the 2013–14 season due to NCAA transfer rules, he had two remaining seasons of eligibility.[5]
In February 2015 he scored a career-high 45 points againstPacific.[6] Wiltjer led Gonzaga to its second ever Elite Eight appearance and a school record 35–3 record. He was named a Consensus Second-Team All-American, as well as First-Team All-WCC and WCC Newcomer of the Year.[7] In hisfirst season with Gonzaga he appeared in 38 games averaging 16.8points per game, 6.2 rebounds per game and 1.9 assists per game in 27.6 minutes per game.[8] After contemplating forgoing his remaining eligibility to enter the2015 NBA draft, Wiltjer decided to return to Gonzaga for his senior year.[9]
Entering hissecond season with Gonzaga, Wiltjer was named CBS Sports' preseason player of the year.[10] Sports Illustrated projected Wiltjer as the preseason player of the year, scoring champion, and the top-usage player in all of NCAA Division 1 basketball.[11] He was named to the 35-man midseason watchlist for theNaismith Trophy on February 11.[12]
After going undrafted in the2016 NBA draft, Wiltjer joined theHouston Rockets for the2016 NBA Summer League.[13] On September 23, 2016, he signed with the Rockets.[14] Wiltjer appeared in four of the Rockets' first 25 games of the 2016–17 season, scoring a total of three points. On December 14, 2016, he scored a season-high seven points in a 132–98 win over theSacramento Kings.[15] During his rookie season, Wiltjer had multiple assignments with theRio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets'D-League affiliate.[16]
On June 28, 2017, theLos Angeles Clippers acquired Wiltjer,Patrick Beverley,Sam Dekker,Montrezl Harrell,Darrun Hilliard,DeAndre Liggins,Lou Williams and a 2018 Top 3 Protected first-round pick (which ended up being pick #30) from the Houston Rockets in exchange forChris Paul.[17] He was later waived by the Clippers on July 15, 2017.[18]
On August 15, 2017, Wiltjer signed with theToronto Raptors.[19] On October 7 he was waived by the Raptors.[20] On October 21, he signed with the Toronto Raptors'NBA G League affiliate, theRaptors 905.[21]
On October 29, 2017, Wiltjer signed withOlympiacos Piraeus of theGreek Basket League and theEuroLeague.[22][23]
On July 3, 2018, Wiltjer signed a one-year deal withUnicaja of the SpanishLiga ACB.[24]
Wiltjer signed withTürk Telekom in July 2019.[25] He averaged 12.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game in the 2019–20 season,[26] and then averaged 18.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in the 2020–21 season.[27]
On July 13, 2021, Wiltjer signed a one-year contract withLenovo Tenerife of the SpanishLiga ACB.[27]
On October 2, 2022, Wiltjer signed with theZhejiang Lions of theChinese Basketball Association (CBA).[28]
On September 21, 2023, Wiltjer signed withReyer Venezia Mestre of the ItalianLega Basket Serie A (LBA).[29]
As a member of theCanadian Under-18 junior national team, Wiltjer won a bronze medal at the 2010FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship. As a member of the Canadian university national team, he played at the2013 World University Games.
With the seniorCanada national basketball team, Wiltjer played at the2015 Pan American Games, where he won a silver medal.[30]
In 2019, Wiltjer participated in the2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup in China. Wiltjer was the team leader in point per game at 16.4. The team finished 21st out of 32 teams.[31][32]
| 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 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–17 | Houston | 14 | 0 | 3.1 | .286 | .308 | .500 | .7 | .1 | .2 | .1 | .9 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–17 | Houston | 1 | 0 | 5.0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | – | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 3.0 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | Olympiacos | 24 | 2 | 9.4 | .476 | .420 | .667 | 1.4 | .1 | .2 | .1 | 4.5 | 3.3 |
| Career | 24 | 2 | 9.4 | .476 | .420 | .667 | 1.4 | .1 | .2 | .1 | 4.5 | 3.3 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011–12 | Kentucky | 40 | 0 | 11.6 | .438 | .432 | .815 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 5.0 |
| 2012–13 | Kentucky | 33 | 10 | 23.8 | .421 | .367 | .810 | 4.2 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 10.2 |
| 2014–15 | Gonzaga | 38 | 37 | 27.6 | .540 | .466 | .789 | 6.2 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 16.8 |
| 2015–16 | Gonzaga | 36 | 36 | 33.6 | .491 | .437 | .857 | 6.3 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 20.4 |
| Career | 147 | 83 | 23.8 | .487 | .425 | .814 | 4.6 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 13.0 | |
Wiltjer's father,Greg, is a former Canadian professional basketball player[34] who was a member of the Canadian national basketball team at the1984 Summer Olympics.[35] His paternal half-sister and Greg's daughter,Jordan Adams, is also a former professional player.[36] Both Greg and Adams also represented Canada.[37][38] Through Adams, Wiltjer has two nieces.[39]
Wiltjer and his former girlfriend Charday Hunt, who was aSacramento State Hornets player and later aNike employee, married inIos, Greece, in 2019.[40][41]
{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)We have two daughters, Rylee and Alayna.
My wife (the couple was married last summer on the Greek island of Ios) is half white, half African American, and so we're an interracial couple. And we just want to promote a positive message, especially to the youth, that everyone should be equal. This sounds so simple, but that's really where all the ideas came from.
