Former UK basketball star Andre Riddick has joined the UC Clermont College Cougars as the men’s assistant basketball coach.
Riddick played collegiately at the University of Kentucky from 1991-95 for head coach Rick Pitino. Nicknamed “The Rejector” – Riddick held the single season block record at 83 for Kentucky together with Melvin Turpin until it was broken by Anthony Davis in 2012, he also held the Kentucky single game block record of nine together with Sam Bowie until it was broken by Nerlens Noel in 2013.
Riddick played on two elite eight teams 1992 and 1995 and a Final Four team in 1993. He and his teammates also won the SEC Tournament Championship four years consecutively.
“We are excited to add Coach Riddick to our staff. The wealth of knowledge he brings from coaches he has played for during his career will be a great asset to our program. We are looking forward to working with Coach Riddick,“ said Men’s Head Basketball Coach Greg Himes.
After graduating from the UK in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, Riddick played professional basketball for 18 years from 1995-2013. He played in six different countries: Japan, Taiwan, France, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Belgium. Winning a championship in 1999 in Venezuela, in 2000 in the Dominican Republic and six championships in Belgium in the years of 2002 and 2003 and from 2008 to 2012. Riddick won the Most Valuable Player award in the Belgium Basketball League in 2004. Prior to his arrival at UC Clermont, Riddick retired from playing professionally and was a volunteer coach with middle school students prior to establishing his own basketball training business in the spring of 2014.
“I am truly grateful and very excited about this opportunity. I can’t wait to get started. I know Coach Himes wants to get the program back to its winning ways and I’m here to help him and our players accomplish that goal,” said Assistant Coach Riddick.
Over the course of his professional career in Europe, Riddick participated in the ULEB Cup competition where teams from different countries compete to win the ULEB (acronym of the French Union des Ligues Européennes de Basket-Ball, in English, Union of European Leagues of Basketball) Cup Championship. Riddick became the ULEB Cup’s All-Time Leader for rebounds (383), and blocks (122) and also has the highest ULEB Cup percentage of blocks (two blocks per game).
Before arriving at Kentucky, Riddick, attended Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., graduating in 1991. He was an All-American and the Gatorade Player of the Year in his senior year.
