August 18, 2010

BAMBERG, Germany – Former UNCG men's basketball star Kyle Hines has signed a contract with Brose Baskets in Germany, a member of the Euroleague for the 2010-11 season.

Hines, who has spent the last two regular seasons as a standout for Prima Veroli in Italy's LegaDue, played in the Las Vegas Summer League for the second time in the last three years. Last month, Hines played for New Orleans in the NBA's summer circuit and played well enough to have three offers to go to training camp. However, with no guaranteed roster spots on the table, Hines chose to go to Euroleague and sign a contract that would allow him to still entertain NBA offers during the season.

Last year, Hines played in the Orlando Summer League for Oklahoma City. In 2008, Hines' first summer after graduating from UNCG, the Sicklerville, N.J., native played for the Charlotte Bobcats in the Las Vegas circuit. Those trips also put training camp bids on the table, but he passed on those to go to Prima Veroli, where he had a guaranteed contract.

Hines finished 10th in LegaDue in scoring this past season, averaging a team-best 18.2 points per game. He was sixth in the league in rebounding at 7.9 per contest, also tops on the Prima Veroli squad. He had an outstanding playoff season for Prima Veroli, leading the team to the league finals, where it lost a best-of-five, 3-1. In 10 playoff games, Hines averaged 19.2 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, shooting better than 60 percent from the floor.

At UNCG, Hines finished as one of six players in college basketball history with career totals surpassing 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 300 blocked shots (joining Alonzo Mourning, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Pervis Ellison and Derrick Coleman). He finished as the school's all-time leader in all three categories with 2,187 points, 1,047 rebounds and 349 blocks. He earned SoCon Player of the Year honors and AP All-America honorable mention honors in his junior season. Hines became just the fourth player in the Southern Conference's 64 years of all-conference selections to become a four-time first-team selection and the first in 20 years when he graduated in 2008. He scored in double figures in each of his last 81 games, the longest active streak in the nation at the time. He finished in the top five among active players in career points, career rebounds, career blocked shots and career double-doubles (45).

Brose Baskets coach Chris Fleming said in a team press release that Hines was "the absolute ideal candidate. He is an exceptional player who can also play at the center position. He is very athletic with long arms. He is able to defend multiple positions and will give us the necessary toughness on offense near the basket. He is a good fit for the team structure and I am very happy that we could get him after long negotiations."

Euroleagueadventures.com has ranked the top 75 free-agent signees in the European leagues and puts Hines at No. 46.

Euroleague is a 24-team league that is considered by most to be one level below the NBA. Twenty-two of the teams are set, while two more slots are filled through qualifying. The round-robin regular season gets under way Oct. 20.

Brose Baskets is based out of Bamberg, Franconia. Last season, Brose won the national basketball cup and the German Championship of the BBL (german basketball league), earning their third promotion to Euroleague. It was the third time the team won the league title in the last six seasons. Former UNC Wilmington standout John Goldsberry is on the roster, as well.

Brose Baskets' first game is at Virtus Roma on Oct. 21.

 

 

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