Kentucky men’s basketball head coach Mark Pope announced Thursday the addition of Kerr Kriisa (pronounced KREE-suh) to the Wildcats’ backcourt for the 2024-25 season. The 6-foot-3 veteran guard, who previously played at Arizona and West Virginia, will transfer to Kentucky with one season of eligibility remaining.
Originally from Tartu, Estonia, Kriisa spent three seasons with Arizona before transferring to West Virginia for the 2023-24 season. During his time with the Mountaineers, he averaged 11.0 points, 4.7 assists, and 2.5 rebounds across 23 games. Throughout his college career, Kriisa has maintained averages of 9.7 points, 4.7 assists, and 2.3 rebounds in 99 games, including 93 starts.
“Kerr Kriisa is one of the best shooters in the country,” Pope remarked. “I feel like I’ve been recruiting him for the last five or six years since he was a prep player. He is one of the most experienced guards in all of college basketball. Kerr played on some great Arizona teams and then, last year, in the hallowed halls of West Virginia. He has a competitive spirit that overflows in every way conceivable. Kerr will have a massive impact on our team on the court and in the locker room. Kentucky fans are going to love his bold personality.”
Kriisa made an immediate impact at West Virginia, scoring 20 points and handing out seven assists in his debut against Massachusetts, one of four 20-point games he recorded that season. He notched a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists against Toledo, becoming the first West Virginia player in five years to achieve double-digit assists in a game. His standout performances continued in conference play, including a 21-point, six 3-pointer effort at Oklahoma State, and a career-high 25 points at Kansas State.
For the season, Kriisa had 13 double-figure scoring games, 18 games with at least three assists, and 11 games with three or more 3-pointers.
At Arizona, Kriisa was a key facilitator, leading the Pac-12 in assists during his sophomore and junior seasons—the first player to do so in consecutive years since USC’s Brandon Granville in 2000 and 2001. Kriisa ranks 10th in Arizona history with 177 made 3-pointers and is one of just five players in Pac-12 history to record multiple triple-doubles, joining Jason Kidd, Andre Iguodala, Loren Woods, and Luke Jackson. His triple-doubles included a 21-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist performance against Utah in 2021-22 and a 14-point, 12-assist, 11-rebound game against Southern in his junior year.
During his tenure at Arizona, Kriisa helped the Wildcats achieve a 78-20 record, win two Pac-12 tournaments, one Pac-12 regular season title, and secure three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a No. 1 seed in 2022.
Before his college career, Kriisa played for Prienai CBet and Zalgiris II Kaunas in Lithuania and was instrumental in the Estonian national team’s first-ever victory over the Lithuanian national team in 2020.