Kennedy Winston facts for kids

Kennedy Lawrence Winston was born on July 29, 1984. He is an American-Macedonian former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the University of Alabama. Kennedy decided to leave college early to try and play in the NBA. However, he was not chosen by an NBA team in 2005. He then spent most of his career playing basketball overseas.

College Basketball Career

Winston was a top basketball player at Mattie T. Blount High School in Prichard, Alabama. In 2002, his senior year, he won the Alabama Mr. Basketball award. He was also named Gatorade's state Player Of The Year. Kennedy first planned to play at the University of California. But he chose to be closer to his mother, who was ill.

After leaving the University of California, he joined the University of Alabama's Crimson Tide. He was the best scorer for the Crimson Tide for two seasons. In 2005, he led the SEC in scoring. He averaged 17.9 points per game that year. He was also named to the All-SEC first team twice, in 2004 and 2005. Kennedy led his team to the NCAA tournament in both 2004 and 2005. In one of those years, his team made it to the Elite Eight, which is the final eight teams.

Professional Basketball Journey

After his junior year, Winston decided to enter the 2005 NBA draft. Many people thought he would be picked in the middle of the first round. But to everyone's surprise, he was not drafted by any NBA team. Winston tried out for some NBA teams as a free agent. However, he eventually moved to Europe to play professional basketball.

Playing in Greece

In the 2006–07 season, Winston played an important role for his team, Panionios, in the Greek League. He was the team's main scorer, averaging 14.9 points per game. He also had 3.2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. He was named co-MVP for his team that season. His teammate, Stratos Perperoglou, also shared the MVP title. After this successful season, both players signed contracts with the strong Greek team, Panathinaikos.

In his first season with Panathinaikos, Winston averaged 8 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. This was during 19 minutes of play per game in the Greek League. During the 2007–08 Greek League playoffs, he averaged 5.9 points and 2.6 rebounds. He played about 16.2 minutes per game in 10 games. On February 17, 2008, he gained a lot of attention. He scored 26 points, making 7 out of 8 three-pointers, against Olympiacos Piraeus. With Panathinaikos, he won both the Greek League and the Greek Cup titles that season.

Moving to Other Countries

On July 30, 2008, Winston signed with Türk Telekom in Turkey. He left that team in February 2009. He then signed with Real Madrid for the rest of that season.

In August 2009, he joined Lottomatica Roma in Italy for the 2009–10 season. In August 2010, he signed a one-year contract with Virtus Bologna. In November 2011, he signed a short six-week contract with Telenet Oostende. After this contract ended, he extended it until the end of the season.

On December 27, 2012, he signed with BCM Gravelines in France for the rest of the 2012–13 season. In August 2013, he signed a one-year deal with Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia. However, he was released just five days later due to some physical issues. In September 2013, he signed with Amchit Club in Lebanon. In January 2014, he went back to France. He signed with Olympique Antibes for the rest of that season.

On November 26, 2014, Winston signed with Halcones de Xalapa in Mexico. In January 2015, he left the Mexican team. He then signed with Club Malvín in Uruguay. He helped his team win the 2015 Uruguayan championship. In May 2015, he signed with Guaiqueríes de Margarita in Venezuela. This was for the rest of the 2015 LPB season.

See also

In Spanish: Kennedy Winston para niños