One of the most famous names in Arizona basketball history will reappear in McKale Center next season.
But Kerr Kriisa didnβt know such a thing was possible until the Wildcats began recruiting him last fall. The Estonian point guard, who committed to Arizona on Saturday, thought he was just named after the guy who played for the great Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls teams of the 1990s.
Well, he was. Itβs just that Kriisa didnβt know that Steve Kerr also happens to have a jersey hanging in the McKale Center rafters, or that the Golden State Warriorsβ coach played for Arizona at all.
βThatβs actually β itβs hilarious,β Kriisa said by phone Saturday from Germany, where he is riding out coronavirus restrictions with family members. βSteve was playing with Jordan and since my dad was a basketball player, from there, it came the name.
βIf youβre a basketball player, you basically follow a lot of leagues and a lot of players. So, for sure, my dad canβt bring up a name like Kerr out of nowhere.β
While it might appear that Kriisa came out of nowhere to join the Wildcats, with Arizona appearing more focused on wings and big men in their spring recruiting efforts, he really didnβt.
The Wildcats and coach Sean Miller began making a quiet push to ramp up their international recruiting efforts last fall. As part of that, UA associate head coach Jack Murphy made two trips to visit Kriisa in Europe, the new Wildcat said β including one on New Yearβs Eve.
The Wildcats were attracted to what ESPN called the top European prospect to commit to a U.S. college this year, a player who was already a rising star in his home country and for his club program in Kaunas, Lithuania.
A 6-foot-2-inch guard who describes himself as having a pass-first mentality and the ability to score when needed, Kriisa averaged 14.3 points and 5.7 assists per game last season for Zalgiris II, a Kaunas-based team in the second-tier Lithuania NKL (National Basketball League).
Kriisa also played for the Estonian senior national team on Feb. 23 in a FIBA European qualifier against Italy, collecting five assists while shooting 0 for 5 over 18 minutes; a FIBA.com story last July called him a “big part of the country’s future.”
Thatβs no surprise because, as it turns out, Kriisaβs last name is also famous ... in Estonia.
Valmo Kriisa was a guard for Estoniaβs national teams from 1995 to 2011 who was named the Estonian League player of the year in 2007. He played professionally for 24 years until retiring at age 42 in 2017, when he had a chance to face his son.
βDefinitely the biggest moment of my life yet,β Kerr Kriisa posted on Instagram in February 2017, βto play against a guy whoβs played this game for over 20 years, Estonian Champion, part of our national team and whoβs also my DAD.β
Kerr Kriisa said he also considered following his fatherβs footsteps in European pro basketball and his club in Kaunas had been developing him for its top team. But Kriisa drew attention from U.S. recruiters after averaging 14 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game for Estonia in the U18 European Championships last summer, and started to think about their offers.
βAll my life Iβve been thinking Iβm not the player who wants to go to the States,β he said. βAfter the European championship, some colleges started to hit me up right away and I was thinking βOK, maybe I shouldnβt close this chapter right away.ββ
Kriisa said he kept active in his online coursework while staying open to the idea of playing a more wide-open game in college basketball. He is expected to play a key role in the Arizona backcourt next season alongside Georgetown transfer James Akinjo, Seattle U transfer Terrell Brown and returning junior Jemarl Baker.
βThe game style is way more different than European,β Kriisa said. βWe play with more sets, and college basketball is more like attacking the rim and being more aggressive and less plays.β
Kriisa said he mostly considered Arizona and BYU, while Oregon and Syracuse also showed interest. By January, he said he was certain he wanted to play college basketball.
Although the coronavirus kept him from making a planned visit to Arizona this month, Kriisa decided to commit to the Wildcats this weekend after seeing the campus and facilities via video, and speaking often to Murphy and Miller.
Along the way, Kriisa said, Murphy made sure to play the name game and have a little fun with it.
βJack sent all the photos, of Steve Kerrβs shirt in the Hall of Fame there and all of that,β Kriisa said. βItβs really funny that I will be going to the same college where Steve played.β
