Kevin Punter

Kevin Xavier Punter Jr. (Serbian Cyrillic: Кевин Пантер; born June 25, 1993) is an American professional basketball player who plays for Olimpia Milano of the Lega Basket Serie A and the EuroLeague. After playing two years each of college basketball at State Fair Community College, and at Tennessee, Punter entered the 2016 NBA draft, but he was not selected in the draft's two rounds.

Kevin Punter
No. 0 – Olimpia Milano
PositionShooting guard
LeagueLega Basket Serie A
EuroLeague
Personal information
Born (1993-06-25) June 25, 1993
Bronx, New York
NationalityAmerican / Serbian
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school
College
NBA draft2016 / Undrafted
Playing career2016–present
Career history
2016–2017Lavrio
2017Antwerp Giants
2017–2018Rosa Radom
2018AEK Athens
2018–2019Virtus Bologna
2019Olympiacos
2019–2020Crvena zvezda
2020–presentOlimpia Milano
Career highlights and awards

In addition to being a citizen of the United States, Punter also has Serbian citizenship.

High school career

Following high school, Punter spent one year attending the Body of Christ Christian Academy, in Raleigh, North Carolina. In his lone season at Body of Christ, he averaged 24.2 points and 2.5 steals.

College career

After high school, Punter played college basketball at State Fair CC, from 2012 to 2014, and at the University of Tennessee, with the Tennessee Volunteers. In his senior year at Tennessee, Punter averaged 22.1 points per game, and 3.4 rebounds per game. Though he missed five games of SEC Conference play, he was named Second Team All-SEC, after finishing with the third-highest scoring average (22.1 points per game), and the fourth-highest free-throw percentage (.853), during conference league games.[1]

Professional career

After failing to be drafted in the 2016 NBA draft, Punter played with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2016 NBA Summer League.[2] In 2016, he signed with Lavrio of the Greek Basket League.[3] He played in 21 games for Lavrio, averaging 12.2 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per game. On March 27, 2017, he left Lavrio, and signed with the Antwerp Giants, until the end of the season.[4]

In July 2017, he signed with Rosa Radom.[5] He played in 16 games with Rosa Radom, and went on to average 20.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game in the FIBA Basketball Champions League. His very good performances gained the interest of the Turkish Super League club Gaziantep, in February but the player didn't left the team.[6]

On February 10, 2018, he moved to AEK Athens for the rest of the season.[7] With AEK, he won the Greek Cup title, in 2018. On May 6, 2018, Punter also won the FIBA Champions League title. In the final, Punter was one of the best players of his team, scoring 16 points.[8]

On July 6, 2018, Punter signed a deal with Virtus Bologna for the 2018–19 season.[9] He led the team to winning the Basketball Champions League crown by posting 21 points and eight rebounds in the semifinal over Brose Bamberg, plus 27 points and seven rebounds in the Final against Iberostar Tenerife. He claimed MVP of the Final Four,[10] after also being named to the competition's Star Lineup.[11]

On June 28, 2019, Punter signed a two-year contract with the Greek EuroLeague club Olympiacos.[12] On December 24, 2019, he was released by Olympiacos.[13] Three days later, he signed with the Serbian EuroLeague club Crvena zvezda for the rest of the season.[14] On February 11, 2020, Punter obtained a Serbian passport and Serbian citizenship.[15][16]

On June 18, 2020, Punter signed with the Italian EuroLeague club Olimpia Milano.[17]

Career statistics

Domestic Leagues

Regular season
Legend
  GP Games played  MPG  Minutes per game  FG%  Field goal percentage
 3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game
 PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high     Led the league

Note: Only games in the primary domestic competitions are included. Therefore, games in cup or European competitions are left out.

Year Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 AEK GBL 1120.4.440.405.9092.3.8.8.111.4

FIBA Champions League

[18]

† Denotes seasons in which Punter won the FIBA Champions League
Year Team GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 Rosa Radom 1631.0.429.358.7853.41.71.4.120.6
2017–18† A.E.K. 623.1.470.419.6802.21.01.2.215.3
2018–19† Virtus Bologna 2027.0.449.418.8073.41.71.1.316.0

Awards and accomplishments

College career
  • Second-team All-SEC: (2016)

Pro career

References
  1. "Kevin Punter Named to All-SEC Team". Sportsradioknoxville.com. March 8, 2016. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  2. "Kevin Punter headed to NBA Summer League with Timberwolves". Wbir.com. June 27, 2016. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  3. "Former Vol Kevin Punter signs with Lavrio Basketball Club of Greece". Knoxnews.com. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  4. "Kevin Punter inks with Antwerp Giants". Sportando.com. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  5. "Kevin Punter nowym zawodnikiem Rosy Radom". echodnia.eu (in Polish). July 19, 2017. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  6. "Kevin Punter on Gaziantep's radar". eurohoops.net. February 1, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  7. "AEK signed Kevin Punter". eurohoops.net. February 10, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  8. "AEK Athens crowned Basketball Champions League Champions". sportando.com. May 7, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  9. "Virtus Bologna announce Kevin Punter". sportando.basketball. July 6, 2018. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  10. "Final Four MVP, Kevin Punter (26 PTS, 7 REB) led Segafredo Virtus Bologna to the BCL 2018". Championsleague.Basketball. May 5, 2019. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  11. "Star Lineup revealed, Blatt Best Young Player". ChampionsLeague.Basketball. May 4, 2019. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  12. "Olympiacos signed Kevin Punter". Eurohoops.net. June 28, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  13. "Olympiacos officially parts ways with Kevin Punter". Talkbasket.net. December 24, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  14. "Amerikanac Panter i zvanično pojačao Crvenu zvezdu!". kkcrvenazvezda.rs (in Serbian). December 27, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  15. "Panteru srpski pasoš, Zvezda bez Perperoglua napada "Žućkovu levicu"". novosti.rs. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  16. "Panter dobio srpsko državljanstvo". b92.net. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  17. ""I can't wait to work and try to do somenthing special": Olimpia welcomes Kevin Punter". olimpiamilano.com. June 18, 2020.
  18. http://www.championsleague.basketball/17-18/team/AEK#%7Ctab=statistics
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