FITTING IN: Kerry Kittles, second from right, enjoys the moment with the other members of the Princeton University men’s basketball coaching staff, from left, head coach Mitch Henderson, assistant coach Brett MacConnell, Director of Basketball Operations Chris Monglia, and assistant Skye Ettin before a game on the team’s trip to Italy this August. Kittles, a former Villanova men’s basketball and NBA star, joined the Princeton staff in May as he makes his coaching debut. (Photo Courtesy of Princeton’s Office of Athletic Communications)

Having taken the plunge into coaching by joining the staff of the Princeton University men’s basketball team this May as an assistant, Kerry Kittles is fired up to get into the trenches.

As the Tigers practiced for their August trip to Italy, the lean 6’5 Kittles, a former Villanova men’s basketball and NBA star, hustled up and down the baseline at Jadwin Gym, barking out instructions to the players as they scrimmaged.

“I knew eventually I was going to coach once I stopped playing,” said Kittles, 42, the all-time leading scorer at Villanova with 2,243 points who went on to an eight-year career in the NBA, tallying 7,165 points in the pros.

“At some point in my career I would coach high school, college, or pro. I have always felt like I would be good at mentoring and leading and helping guys with learning the game of basketball and also learning the game of life.”

Getting introduced to Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson through a mutual friend helped get Kittles on the track to the job at Princeton. Previously Kittles had served on Villanova’s President’s Advisory Council since 2010 as an ambassador for the university, developing opportunities for students and alumni by engaging with the school’s corporate relationships, mentoring students and alums, and promoting academic success and career development.

“I have four years of college basketball at the highest level in the Big East, obviously my pro career and just my understanding of the Princeton offense, how you play and move without the ball and how you set your teammates up off the ball,” said Kittles, detailing the qualities he brought to the coaching position.

“I can also help with leadership skills for the older guys on the team. All of those things aligned with who he was looking for as an assistant coach.”

Kittles has enjoyed getting to know the players on the Princeton squad.

“The guys are all great kids, they are all ambitious with trying to be the best basketball players that they can and also recognizing that there is a bigger picture here positioning yourself to be successful once you leave Princeton,” added Kittles.

“Those things are something I have always admired about schools like Princeton along with the tradition they have had here and their program over the years.”

Princeton senior forward Han Brase believes Kittles is having a positive impact on the program.

“Coach Kittles is great, he is really hands on; just how he sees the game defensively, he was a menace,” said Brase of Kittles, who is also Villanova’s career leader in steals with 277.

“Playing eight years in the NBA, you really just see everything. We are always learning from him and he is learning from us. It is a two-way street. It is great to have a former player of his caliber coaching us because he saw so much and now he shows us what he would do. He brings drills that they did in the NBA.”

With a few months of coaching under his belt, Kittles is embracing the grind that comes with the life of an assistant.

“I am doing everything; you have got recruiting, player development, practice scheduling, all those things,” said Kittles.

“At the end of the day it is a grind, it is work, trying to piece things together and finding the right kids to come to the program and also getting the players that are here now to be better players but it is fun. It is basketball, I have been doing it forever.”

Coach Henderson is thrilled to have Kittles on his staff. “He is super invested in the teaching of the guys on the team,” said Henderson.

“When we first started talking and when he arrived here, he was all about the guys on the team. It resonates from somebody who had the kind of career all these guys want. As good a player as he was and as good an NBA career he had, he is an even better person. I think we are all benefitting from that.”

Kittles’ lack of coaching experience didn’t concern Henderson. “Good players make good coaches and he was a terrific player,” added Henderson.

“You can’t take somebody away from the game. I liked why he came to Princeton, he had a lot of options but he chose to come here because of what we stand for as student-athletes. I think he was really impressed with the level of players and persons that we have and how much the guys want it.”

Princeton’s 11-day trip this month to Italy was an important opportunity for Kittles to develop a better feel for the Tigers.

“It is great for me, first year on the staff to be able to get this week of practice and then 11 days together as a group,” said Kittles.

“Normally, I wouldn’t see the guys until after Labor Day and then I wouldn’t get to see them in the court until mid-October so for me to be able to have these 21 days of just being around the guys is a great experience for me. Once this trip is over, I can go back and go through my notes and reflect and watch a lot of video and formulate a better game plan with Coach about how can we do things better individually and how we can do things better as a team.”

For Kittles, applying some NBA sensibility to his approach is one key way he can help Princeton get better.

“In the professional ranks, each guy in the locker room held each other accountable,” recalled Kittles, who averaged 14.1 points a game in his pro career and helped the New Jersey Nets make the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003.

“It is in your face like hey look you are getting your butt kicked, your guy is dominating you, you are not giving max effort. You hear from your guys a little more in the NBA so I will bring a little bit more of that to the team. I think these guys can use a little bit of that. Look if you are playing out there on the court and the guy is not guarding hard, you have got to let him know. These guys have great discipline, they are in the gym early, they are very coachable so you just talk to them, you don’t have to yell at them.”

It may be early in Kittles’ coaching career but it appears that he has found a calling.

“I had a taste of it the last couple of years, helping out with some schools locally where I live,” said Kittles.

“I have been scratching the itch and just getting it going now, this is what I can see myself doing.”