Kenny Battle

Kenny Battle
Personal information
Born (1964-10-10) October 10, 1964 (age 60)
Aurora, Illinois, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High schoolWest Aurora (Aurora, Illinois)
College
NBA draft1989: 1st round, 27th overall pick
Selected by the Detroit Pistons
Playing career1989–2000
PositionSmall forward
Number3, 5, 8, 33
Career history
1989–1991Phoenix Suns
1991Denver Nuggets
1991–1992La Crosse Catbirds
1992Boston Celtics
1992Golden State Warriors
1992La Crosse Catbirds
1992Boston Celtics
1992–1994La Crosse Catbirds
1994–1995Quad City Thunder
1995Olimpia de Venado Tuerto
2000Fargo-Moorhead Beez
Career highlights and awards
  • First-team All-MAC (1986)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Kenneth R. Battle (born October 10, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player.

High school career

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In 1984, Battle led Aurora West High School to third place in the Illinois High School Association Class AA state basketball tournament. Battle led the tournament with 86 points in four games for third-place finisher Aurora West.[1]

In 2007, the Illinois High School Association named Battle one of the 100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament.[2]

College career

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Battle played collegiately at Northern Illinois University from 1984 to 1986 before transferring to the University of Illinois.[3][4][5] He was known as "King of the 360s" while playing at Northern Illinois. He was the captain of the 1989 Illinois team nicknamed the Flyin' Illini.[6] The team reached the Final Four before being topped by Michigan. Battle was a fan favorite due to his hustle and spectacular slam dunks. The Illini awards the Kenny Battle Inspirational Award to the player who shows the most hustle during the season.[7]

Professional career

[edit]

Battle was selected by the Detroit Pistons in the 1st round (27th overall) of the 1989 NBA draft and then traded on draft day to the Phoenix Suns along with Micheal Williams in exchange for the Suns' first round draft choice (24th overall pick), Anthony Cook. Battle played in 4 NBA seasons for the Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors. His best year as a pro came during the 1991-92 NBA season when he split time with the Suns and Nuggets, appearing in 56 games and averaging 6.1 ppg. However, Battle's best game as a pro came on November 10, 1990, when he scored 23 points on 8/14 shooting in a Suns 173 – 143 victory over the Nuggets. Prior to that, he competed in the 1990 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, where he finished in last place (8th).[8] Battle briefly joined the Fargo-Moorhead Beez of the International Basketball Association in 2000.[9] Currently Kenny is the director of basketball at Camp Judaea in Hendersonville, North Carolina.

Honors

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Basketball

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  • 1985–96 – NABC National Dunker of the Year[10]
  • 1985 – 2nd Team All-Mid-American Conference
  • 1985 – Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year
  • 1985 – Honorable Mention All American
  • 1986 – Youngest player in MAC History to Reach 1,000 Career Points.
  • 1986 – 1st Team All-Mid-American Conference
  • 1986 – Honorable Mention All American
  • 1987 – Illini Co-MVP
  • 1988 – 3rd Team All-Big Ten
  • 1988 – Honorable Mention All American
  • 1989 – Team Co-Captain[11]
  • 1989 – Preseason Wooden Award Nominee
  • 1989 – 2nd Team All-Big Ten
  • 1989 – Honorable Mention All American
  • 1989 – NCAA All-Regional Team
  • 1989 – Kenny Battle Leadership Award
  • 1996 – Inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association's Hall of Fame as a player.[12]
  • 2000 – Named to the Northern Illinois University All-Century Team.[13]
  • 2004 – Elected to the "Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team".
  • 2008 – Honored as one of the thirty-three honored jerseys which hang in the State Farm Center to show regard for being the most decorated basketball players in the University of Illinois' history.

College statistics

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Northern Illinois University

[edit]
Season Games Points PPG Field Goals Attempts Avg Free Throws Attempts Avg Rebounds RPG Assists APG Steals SPG
1984–85 27 544 20.1 195 369 .528 154 234 .658 167 6.2 59 2.2 60 2.2
1985–86 27 528 19.6 201 354 .568 126 193 .653 175 6.5 59 2.2 67* 2.5
Totals 54 1,072 19.9 396 723 .548 280 427 .656 342 6.3 118 2.2 127 2.4

* All-time Single Season Record in Northern Illinois University history

University of Illinois

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Season Games Points PPG Field Goals Attempts Avg Free Throws Attempts Avg Rebounds Avg Assists APG Steals SPG
1987–88 33 516 15.6 197 341 .578 122 179 .682 183 5.5 55 1.7 72 2.2
1988–89 36 596 16.6 218 361 .604 151 200 .755 174 4.8 64 1.8 89* 2.5
Totals 69 1,112 16.1 415 702 .591 273 379 .720 357 5.2 119 1.7 161 2.3

* All-time Single Season Record in University of Illinois history[7][14]

Combined college statistics

[edit]
Season Games Points PPG Field Goals Attempts Avg Free Throws Attempts Avg Rebounds Avg Assists APG Steals SPG
1984–89 123 2,184 17.8 811 1,425 .569 553 806 .686 699 5.7 237 1.9 288 2.3

NBA career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game
 PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
† Denotes season in which Battle won an NBA championship
* Led the league

Regular season

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Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1989–90 Phoenix 59 12.4 .547 .671 2.1 0.6 4.1
1990–91 Phoenix 16 16.4 .442 .690 3.3 0.9 6.0
1990–91 Denver 40 17.1 .485 .781 3.1 1.2 6.1
1991–92 Boston 8 5.8 .750 1.000 1.1 0.0 1.8
1991–92 Golden State 8 5.8 .615 .500 0.9 0.5 2.3
1992–93 Boston 3 9.7 .462 1.000 3.7 0.7 4.7
Career 134 13.4 .504 .725 2.4 0.8 4.7

Playoffs

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Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1990 Phoenix 8 4.3 .308 1.000 0.6 0.0 1.1
Career 8 4.3 .308 1.000 0.6 0.0 1.1

References

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  1. ^ "IHSA's March Madness -- 1984 Class AA Boys". Archived from the original on September 23, 2009. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
  2. ^ "Legends". www.ihsa.org. [dead link]
  3. ^ "The First Century Northern Illinois Men s Basketball Media Guide PDF Free Download". docplayer.net. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  4. ^ NIU Huskies Hall of Fame
  5. ^ "100 years of memories, basketball at NIU" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 24, 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
  6. ^ "1988-89 Men's Basketball Roster". University of Illinois Athletics. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Basketball Individual Career Records (PDF)" (PDF). University of Illinois Athletics. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  8. ^ "NBA.com: All-Star: Slam Dunk Year-by-Year Results". NBA.com. Archived from the original on December 19, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2007.
  9. ^ NewsBank.com
  10. ^ "2017-18 NIU Men's Basketball Record Book (PDF)" (PDF). NIU Athletics. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  11. ^ "FightingIllini.com" (PDF). Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  12. ^ IBCA Hall of Fame
  13. ^ "NIU Announces All Century Team". getsomemaction.com. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  14. ^ "Kenny Battle College Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
[edit]
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