John Kuester

John Kuester
Player information
Full name	John Dewitt Kuester Jr.
birthday	February 6, 1955
place of birth	Richmond , United States
size	188 cm
position	Point guard
college	North Carolina
NBA draft	1977 , 53rd Pick, Kansas City Kings
Clubs as active
1977–1978 Kansas City Kings 1978–1979 Denver Nuggets 1979–1980 Indiana Pacers
Clubs as coaches
1980–1981 University of Richmond (assistant) 1981–1983 Boston University (assistant) 1983–1985 Boston University 1985–1990 George Washington University 1995–1997 Boston Celtics (assistant) 1997–2003 Philadelphia 76ers (assistant) 2003–2004 Detroit Pistons ( Assistant) 2004–2005 New Jersey Nets (Assistant) 2005–2006 Philadelphia 76ers (Assistant) 2006–2007 Orlando Magic (Assistant) 2007–2009 Cleveland Cavaliers (Assistant) 2009–2011 Detroit Pistons
1 As of August 11, 2009

John Dewitt Kuester Jr. (born February 6, 1955 in Richmond , Virginia ) is a retired American basketball player . The point guard played in the NBA from 1977 to 1980 . After his career he continued to work as a coach.

High school

Kuester attended a private high school in Richmond , Benedictine High School. There he played with the Cadets under legendary coach Warren Rutledge and ended his senior season with only one loss.

college

John Kuester played for four seasons under coach Dean Smith for the North Carolina Tar Heels . At the university, he won the ACC championship twice, reached the NCAA tournament in all four seasons and even the NCAA finals in 1977. In the NCAA finals, his tar heels lost 67-59 to Marquette University . Kuester was named the team's best defender in both his junior and senior seasons. The high point of his college career was when he was named Most Valuable Player of the ACC Tournament and NCAA East Regionals in his senior season .

NBA

Kuester was drafted in 53rd place in the 1977 NBA draft by the Kansas City Kings . That made him one of twelve on his college team that was drafted.

Kansas City Kings

In his rookie season, Kuester played for the Kansas City Kings . He played 78 of 82 games, scoring 4.8 points per game. With the Kings could not reach the playoffs in his first season, as the Kings finished the season only in eleventh place in the Western Conference .

Denver nuggets

After the year with the Kansas City Kings, Kuester moved on October 15, 1978 as a free agent to the Denver Nuggets . With the Nuggets he also reached the playoffs, but they lost in the first round against the Los Angeles Lakers . Kuester only made 33 appearances in the season and averaged 1.4 points.

Indiana Pacers

On August 3, 1979, Kuester signed as a free agent with the Indiana Pacers . With the Pacers Kuester played in 24 games and achieved a points average of 1.2 points per game. The Pacers missed the playoffs this season.

Coach

After his career as a player, Kuester began his career as a coach at the University of Richmond in 1980 , but as an assistant coach. He then worked from 1981 to 1983 as an assistant to Rick Pitino at Boston University , until he became the youngest coach in NCAA Division I in 1983 .

From 1985 to 1990 he was a coach at George Washington University . In the 1988-1989 season, his team won only one game in 27 defeats.

He continued his career as an assistant coach, from 1995 to 1997 with the Boston Celtics and from 1997 to 2003 with the Philadelphia 76ers . In the 2003/2004 season he moved to the Detroit Pistons , with which he was NBA champion. In the 2004-2005 season he was an assistant with the New Jersey Nets and in the 2005-2006 season he returned to the Sixers. In July 2006 he became an assistant coach with the Orlando Magic and on August 12, 2007 he went to the Cleveland Cavaliers . From July 2009 to June 2011, he trained the Detroit Pistons.

Web links

• Trainer profile on nba.com
• John Kuester - player profile on basketball-reference.com