Kerr Kriisa


Kerr Kriisa is an Estonian professional basketball player for Žalgiris-2 of the National Basketball League. A native of Tartu, he has competed with the Estonian junior national teams on multiple occasions. Kriisa is committed to play college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats.

Professional career

2016–2018: Early years

Kriisa played for the youth teams of his hometown club BC Tartu since he was 12 years old and debuted with University of Tartu first team during the 2016–17 KML season at the age of 15. In September 2017 he signed with Brose Bamberg and started playing in their affiliate team Baunach Young Pikes. His stint in Germany was cut short due to periostitis and he returned to Estonia for treatment.

2018–present: Žalgiris Kaunas

In August 2018 he signed with Žalgiris Kaunas. In his first year with the Kaunas team Kriisa played in the Lithuanian second league team Žalgiris-2 and also for the youth team in the Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament. He was awarded with the MVP and All-Tournament Team honours at the Kaunas Qualifying Tournament. Kriisa averaged 17.3 points, 4.7 assists and 2.7 rebounds in 7 games of the 2018–19 season of Next Generation Tournament.
Kriisa made his EuroLeague debut for Žalgiris on 25 October 2019 and scored his first point from a free throw as Žalgiris defeated LDLC ASVEL 70–56 in the Regular Season Round 4 game. In November 2019 Kriisa was sent on loan to another Lithuanian team CBet Prienai to gain experience in the Lithuanian Basketball League. His loan spell ended in January 2020 and Kriisa returned to Žalgiris-2.
On April 18, 2020, Kriisa committed to play college basketball in the United States for Arizona. Analysts considered him to be the best European recruit considering playing at the collegiate level.

National team career

Kriisa has represented the Estonia national U-16 team at the 2016 and 2017 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championships and the Estonia national U-18 team at the 2019 FIBA Europe Under-18 Division B Championship.

Personal life

Kerr is the son of former Estonia international Valmo Kriisa. He is named after Steve Kerr, who also played basketball at the University of Arizona.

Career statistics

EuroLeague