Kerr Kriisa insists he is just having fun and being himself even if he is trash talking. (Larry Vaught Photo)
Not only was Kerr Kriisa’s father a professional basketball player, but the Kentucky freshman guard actually played against him.
“I was like 15 and we played against each other in an Estonian Pro League. It was a cool, cool experience,” said Kriisa said. “I won. He actually had a terrible game. I think he made a couple of shots, but they were both in my face. The other seven shots against others, he missed.”
Kriisa’s father named him after Golden State coach Steve Kerr.
“I’m very, very happy with my name,” Kriisa said.
The Estonia native said his father was the biggest influence on his basketball career.
“He’s probably the reason why I started playing basketball. Growing up around basketball from a very early age …I was seven, eight years old. I got to go see film sessions. My dad got chewed out in a film session once. I’m seven years old. I’m crying. I’m like, ‘Damn, the coach is telling my dad these things, you know?’ So it was a super, super cool experience and definitely impacted my basketball career,” Kriisa said.
Kriisa spent the 2019-20 season playing in Lithuania where he averaged 14 points and six assists per game. That’s where he first met Kentucky coach Mark Pope when he came to Lithuania to watch him play but Kriisa signed with Arizona, not BYU.
“It was awesome that he came there to see me but there were more coaches who came over, too, to recruit me,” Kriisa laughed and said. “So it wasn’t like he was the only one who made the trip.”
Kriisa was not cleared by the NCAA until February of his freshman year and started five of the eight games he played. He had a triple-double his sophomore year and ranked first in the Pac-12 in assists (4.7 per game) and third in 3’s per game (2.42). He led the Pac-12 in assists again as a junior, the first Pac-12 player ever to lead the conference in assists in consecutive years. He also had another triple-double.
Kriisa transferred to West Virginia for the 2023-24 season and averaged 11 points and 4.7 assists per game. He had a game-high 23 points against BYU and Pope when he apparently did a bit of trash talking during the game. Pope liked the guards’ competitive spirit and bold personality.
Kriisa didn’t want to agree that he trash talked as much as some are suggesting.
“I’m just being me. I’m not going on a floor thinking that I’m gonna talk trash. I’m just being me,” he said. “I’m just having fun with it. I think basketball is a fun game and I think it just makes it more electric.”
Kriisa didn’t deny possibly trash talking a bit against BYU last season.
“When we played I was definitely excited. I obviously have a long, long relationship with coach Pope and some of the guys (on his staff), so it was for me a special game to play against them,” Kriisa said. “I took that very personally since they had been recruiting me to BYU for quite a while.”
Kriisa knew how big Kentucky basketball was before he got to Lexington because growing up in Estonia he knew then about UK.
“I think the brand is big in the state but I think the brand is worldwide overseas. I mean, it’s a big deal obviously,” Kriisa said. “I am very blessed to be here and can’t take it for granted. I am very happy and thankful for the opportunity.”
He noted that his hometown in Estonia has maybe 100,000 people and “they could all probably fit in Kroger Field” for a UK football game.
“Looking back I probably didn’t know how much the state cares about Kentucky basketball. Obviously, you heard and you know a little bit but not how Kentucky basketball is really the main thing in the state. I think it’s very special. I think it gives us a good way to represent the state to go out and play hard and be like Kentucky people are. They’re hard workers. They give everything they have, and that’s what we’re trying to do this year.”
Kriisa did admit he did not cheer for Kentucky when he watched the Cats play. He compared it to not cheering for the Kansas City Chiefs or the New York Yankees because both teams were such powerhouses.
“No you don’t cheer for … it’s the biggest brand of college basketball and it’s either you love it, love us, or you hate us. So that’s how it is and how I was,” he said.
The fifth-year player has learned several things about Pope he didn’t know starting with he’s funnier than he ever imagined.
“Well, he’s actually sometimes pretty funny. I didn’t know that,” Kriisa said. “He can really coach the hell out of it, too. He cares about his players a lot. He’s honest. He doesn’t tell you something that’s not there. He’s not going to sell you some BS. He’s going to tell you how things are. So I think that’s the most appreciated thing, especially in this college industry where I feel like a lot of kids are getting lied to.
“This is a very big thing about coach Pope that you know and I think that’s a good recruiting pitch. Like I said, in college a lot of kids are getting lied to, sold something that’s not true. With coach Pope, that’s not the case.”
Former UK All-American Jack Givens believes that kind of perspective helps make Kriisa a natural leader.
“You don’t necessarily have to have someone tell you that you are the leader or proclaim you the leader but guys just follow you. I have noticed that with him,” Givens, the UK Radio Network analyst, said. “Guys look to him, especially (freshmen) Trent (Noah) and Travis (Perry). They go to him for leadership. He has been fun to watch.
“He does talk a lot of trash but I played against (former NBA star) Larry Bird and he talked garbage and then would go out and back it up. Kerr talks a lot but he loves playing and I think he also loves leading others.”
