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Tommy Kuhse

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Tommy Kuhse
Kuhse in 2019
No. 2 – Derthona Basket
PositionPoint guard
LeagueLBA
Personal information
Born (1998-01-05) January 5, 1998 (age 26)
Mesa, Arizona, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High schoolMountain View (Mesa, Arizona)
CollegeSaint Mary's (2017–2022)
NBA draft2022: undrafted
Playing career2022–present
Career history
2022–2023Austin Spurs
2023Riesen Ludwigsburg
2023–2024Rasta Vechta
2024–presentDerthona Basket
Career highlights and awards
  • WCC Sixth Man of the Year (2022)
  • First-team All-WCC (2022)
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Tommy Kuhse (born January 5, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for Derthona Basket of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He played five seasons of college basketball at Saint Mary's before going undrafted in the 2022 NBA draft.

Early life

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Kuhse attended Mountain View High School in Mesa, Arizona, where he was a member of the varsity baseball and basketball teams.[1] Kuhse stopped playing baseball after his junior season and shifted his focus entirely to basketball.[2] During his junior and senior seasons, Kuhse was named second-team all-state. As a senior he was named city player of the year after averaging 21 points, 4 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 2 steals per game and leading Mountain View to the state quarterfinals.[1]

Despite his success at Mountain View, Kuhse was lightly recruited coming out of high school. He was unranked as a prospect by major recruiting services such as ESPN, Scout and Rivals, with Verbal Commits listing him as a 2 star out of 5 prospect.[3] Kuhse received offers from small colleges around the Arizona and Southern California areas, though none were scholarship offers from Division I programs. Saint Mary's was one of the few D-I programs showing any interest in Kuhse, and he had a connection to the team's head coach, Randy Bennett, as Kuhse's father and Bennett were high school classmates. Saint Mary's did not have a scholarship available for Kuhse, but allowed him to walk-on to the program.[2]

College career

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In his first year with the Gaels, Kuhse was both a walk-on and a redshirt. Consequently, he saw no game action during the 2016–17 season. The Gaels had a crowded, experienced backcourt that season led by junior Emmett Naar and senior Joe Rahon, who along with talented freshman Jordan Ford, left few minutes available at the guard positions.[2]

As a redshirt freshman in 2017–18, Kuhse appeared in 24 of the team's 36 games, averaging 2.3 minutes per contest and totaling just 10 points scored for the season.[4]

As a redshirt sophomore in 2018–19, Kuhse saw his role on the team expand dramatically. He appeared in all 34 of the team's games and was a starter in 27 of them, with his first coming in a December 1 game against Cal. Kuhse would be a regular starter from that point in the season forward, and finished the year with averages of 26.7 minutes, 6.2 points and 2.9 assists per game.[1] Over the course of the season, Kuhse took over the traditional point guard role on the team, which allowed high-scoring combo guard Jordan Ford to play off the ball and focus on scoring rather than running the offense.[5] The Gaels went 22–12 that season, but were 19–8 with Kuhse in the starting lineup. In the WCC tournament championship game against No. 1 ranked Gonzaga, Kuhse played all 40 minutes[1] as the Gaels upset the Zags 60–47 to punch their ticket to the 2019 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.[6]

As a redshirt junior in 2019–20, Kuhse once again played the lead point guard role in a backcourt alongside Jordan Ford.[5] Kuhse started 19 of 33 games and averaged 26.5 minutes per game,[4] making him the minutes leader among walk-ons in the country. The Gaels went 26–8 that season and were 23–3 in games in which Kuhse scored.[1]

Prior to his redshirt senior season in 2020–21, Kuhse was put on scholarship for the first time in his career.[1] It was a year of upheaval for the Gaels, who were replacing Jordan Ford and Malik Fitts, the two leading scorers for the team in each of the previous two seasons.[7] Kuhse, no longer a walk-on, became the team's leader. He started all 24 games in the pandemic-shortened season and led the team in minutes at 35.8 per game. Kuhse also shifted from playing a primarily facilitating role into a point guard who was looking to score. Kuhse averaged a career-best 12.8 points per game, second on the team. In a December 15 game against Eastern Washington, he set a career high with 34 points.[1]

Kuhse returned for a graduate year in the 2021–22 season, using the extra year of eligibility given by the NCAA to all athletes who played during the COVID-19 pandemic. Once again, he was the team's primary point guard and started 21 of the team's 34 games. Kuhse began the season in the starting lineup, before moving into a sixth man role from late December through mid-February. Kuhse returned to the starting lineup for the team's final eight games of the season. His 12.2 points per game were second on the team. Over the final eight games of the season, Kuhse played the entire 40 minutes five times.[1] He was named WCC Sixth Man of the Year and earned all-WCC First Team honors at the end of the season.[8]

Professional career

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Austin Spurs (2022–2023)

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Kuhse went undrafted during the 2022 NBA draft, but within hours of the draft's conclusion Kuhse had agreed to participate on the Orlando Magic's Summer League team.[9] Kuhse played very well for the Magic during the Summer League, averaging 17.3 points per game on 54% shooting from the field and 40% from three point range, along with 3.3 assists and 3 steals per game. His performance earned praise from numerous outlets for his production with the Magic.[10][11]

On August 26, the San Antonio Spurs signed Kuhse to a contract that will allow him to participate in training camp and fight for a regular season roster spot.[12] He was waived on October 10.[13]

On October 24, 2022, Kuhse joined the Austin Spurs training camp roster.[14] On February 27, 2023, Kuhse was waived by the Austin Spurs.[15]

On March 6, 2023, he signed with MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg of the German Basketball Bundesliga (BBL).[16]

On June 14, 2024, he signed with Derthona Basket of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).[17]

College statistics

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Season Team League GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 Saint Mary's Gaels West Coast Conference 24 0 2.3 .444 .500 .500 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.4
2018–19 Saint Mary's Gaels West Coast Conference 34 27 26.7 .421 .340 .830 2.6 2.9 0.8 0.2 6.2
2019–20 Saint Mary's Gaels West Coast Conference 33 19 26.5 .376 .321 .686 3.4 3.8 0.7 0.1 5.9
2020–21 Saint Mary's Gaels West Coast Conference 24 24 35.7 .407 .275 .797 3.7 5.0 1.5 0.2 12.8
2021–22 Saint Mary's Gaels West Coast Conference 34 21 30.0 .494 .450 .808 3.7 3.7 0.9 0.2 12.2

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Tommy Kuhse – Men's Basketball Roster". smcgaels.com. Saint Mary's College of California. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "SMC Basketball's Tommy Kuhse's Incredible Story: From Walk-On to Starting Guard". stmarys-ca.edu. Saint Mary's College of California. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Tommy Kuhse". verbalcommits.com. Verbal Commits. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Tommy Kuhse College Stats". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  5. ^ a b Bennett, Brian (8 October 2019). "Jordan Ford and Saint Mary's may be in line for their best season yet. Here's why". The Athletic. The Athletic. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  6. ^ Meehan, Jim (12 March 2019). "Analysis: Gonzaga's offense misfires in upset loss to Saint Mary's". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  7. ^ "2019–20 Saint Mary's Gaels Roster and Stats". sports-reference.com. Sports-Reference. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  8. ^ Lawson, Theo (2 March 2022). "Gonzaga's Drew Timme, Chet Holmgren combine to win three of four WCC postseason awards". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  9. ^ "MBB Kuhse Agrees to Play in NBA Summer League with Orlando Magic". smcgaels.com. Saint Mary's College of California. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  10. ^ Singh, Sanjesh (18 July 2022). "2022 NBA Summer League: Standouts not on a main roster". NBC Sports Boston. NBC Sports. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  11. ^ Sheppard, Riley (15 July 2022). "Magic Summer League: 3 Winners From Las Vegas". The Magic Insider. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  12. ^ "SPURS SIGN TOMMY KUHSE". NBA.com. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  13. ^ sasemauricio (October 10, 2022). "SPURS WAIVE TOMMY KUHSE". NBA.com. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  14. ^ "Austin Spurs Announce 2022–23 Training Camp Roster". oursportscentral.com. October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  15. ^ "2022–23 NBA G League Transactions". gleague.nba.com. February 27, 2023. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  16. ^ "Nachschlag! RIESEN verpflichten Guard Tommy Kuhse". mhp-riesen-ludwigsburg.de (in German). March 6, 2023. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  17. ^ "Il Derthona ha la sua point guard: Tommy Kuhse è bianconero". derthonabasket.it (in Italian). June 14, 2024. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
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