Greg Kelser
Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | Panama City, Florida | September 17, 1957
Nationality | American |
Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
Listed weight | 190 lb (86 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Henry Ford (Detroit, Michigan) |
College | Michigan State (1975–1979) |
NBA draft | 1979 / Round: 1 / Pick: 4th overall |
Selected by the Detroit Pistons | |
Playing career | 1979–1985 |
Position | Small forward |
Number | 32, 3, 20, 11 |
Career history | |
1979–1981 | Detroit Pistons |
1981–1983 | Seattle SuperSonics |
1983–1984 | San Diego Clippers |
1985 | Indiana Pacers |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Career NBA statistics | |
Points | 2,961 (9.7 ppg) |
Rebounds | 1,402 (4.6 rpg) |
Assists | 411 (1.3 apg) |
Stats ![]() | |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com |
Gregory Kelser (born September 17, 1957) is a retired American basketball player and current television color commentator. Kelser played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1979 to 1985 and is best known for his standout college basketball career at Michigan State.
Early life[]
Kelser grew up in a military family, spending part of his childhood in Okinawa. He credits his exposure to military discipline with contributing to his later success in athletics.[1]
College career[]
Upon graduating from Detroit Henry Ford High School in 1975, Kelser was brought to Michigan State by Gus Ganakas, who left the head coach position after Kelser's freshman season.[1] His impressive on-court skills earned him the sobriquet "Special K", after the locally-made cereal.[2] In his junior year (the freshman year for Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Jay Vincent) under coach Jud Heathcote, the Spartans squad had an impressive season, racking up a 25–5 record, the Big Ten Conference title, and a berth in the 1978 NCAA tournament,[3] where they made it to the regional finals before losing narrowly to eventual champion Kentucky.[4] As a senior, he along with Johnson led the Spartans to the 1979 NCAA tournament championship, the first in the school's history. He was often on the receiving end of spectacular alley-oop passes from Johnson. He later wrote a book about his basketball experiences at MSU.[5]
Kelser finished his career at Michigan State as a 2-time Academic All-American, something he credits Jud Heathcote for keeping him on task to achieve. He was the very first Big-10 player, and remains the only player in Spartan basketball history, to score over 2,000 points with over 1,000 rebounds.[6]
NBA career[]
Kelser was drafted by the Pistons in 1979, but was later traded to the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for Vinnie Johnson in 1981. Kelser also spent a season with the San Diego Clippers and part of a season with the Indiana Pacers. Kelser noted that Larry Bird brutally went after him whenever one of Kelser's teams played Boston, surmising that this was because Kelser's Michigan State team beat Bird's Indiana State Sycamores for the 1979 title. Kelser also said that he never sought or wanted to have a friendly relationship with Bird; when asked for a response, Bird said that he didn't recall Kelser ever doing anything of note in the NBA.
Post-NBA career[]
Since leaving the NBA, Kelser has worked extensively as a sports announcer and/or commentator on radio and television.[2] He is a commentator for Pistons games on Bally Sports Detroit with his partner George Blaha and on the Big Ten Network.
Personal life[]
Kelser, who likes to diversify his activities, has had many interests away from basketball, including collecting soul and jazz records, fishing for silver bass and walleye, playing softball, criminal law with a special interest in juvenile delinquents, and working in a Lansing, Michigan television station in which he and Magic Johnson had a vested interest.[7]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Greg Kelser: All-American On The Court And In The Classroom". Michigan State University Athletics. Michigan State University. February 22, 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Greg Kelser". Hoopedia - The Basketaball Wiki. NBA Media Ventures, LLC. Retrieved 2009-04-04. External link in
|work=
(help) - ^ "Michigan State Michigan State University Spartans, Official Athletic Site - Michigan State". Archived from the original on 2009-04-12. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
- ^ 1978 NCAA Basketball Tournament (ShrpSports.Com) Archived 2009-04-13 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Kelser, Gregory; Grinczel, Steve (October 1, 2006). Greg Kelser's Tales from Michigan State Basketball. Sports Publishing LLC. ISBN 978-1-59670-051-2.
- ^ http://www.msuspartans.com/genrel/022208aaa.html
- ^ USA Today. December 7, 1982
External links[]
- 1957 births
- Living people
- African-American basketball players
- All-American college men's basketball players
- American men's basketball players
- Basketball players at the 1979 NCAA Division I Final Four
- Basketball players from Florida
- College basketball announcers in the United States
- Detroit Pistons announcers
- Detroit Pistons draft picks
- Detroit Pistons players
- Indiana Pacers players
- Michigan State Spartans men's basketball players
- Minnesota Timberwolves announcers
- People from Panama City, Florida
- San Diego Clippers players
- Seattle SuperSonics players
- Small forwards
- Henry Ford High School (Detroit, Michigan) alumni
- Basketball players from Detroit