Rod Strickland facts for kids

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Rod Strickland
LIU Sharks
Strickland as an assistant coach for the Kentucky Wildcats in 2009
Head coach
Personal information
Born	(1966-07-11) July 11, 1966 (age 59) The Bronx, New York, U.S.
High school	Truman (The Bronx, New York) Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Virginia)
Listed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
College	DePaul (1985–1988)
NBA Draft	1988 / Round: 1 / Pick: 19th overall
Selected by the New York Knicks
Pro career	1988–2005
Coaching career	2014–present
League	Northeast Conference
Career history
As player:
1988–1990	New York Knicks
1990–1992	San Antonio Spurs
1992–1996	Portland Trail Blazers
1996–2001	Washington Bullets / Wizards
2001	Portland Trail Blazers
2001–2002	Miami Heat
2002–2003	Minnesota Timberwolves
2003–2004	Orlando Magic
2004	Toronto Raptors
2005	Houston Rockets
As coach:
2014–2017	South Florida (assistant)
2022–present	Long Island

Career highlights and awards
All-NBA Second Team (1998) NBA All-Rookie Second Team (1989) NBA assists leader (1998) Third-team All-American – UPI (1988) First-team Parade All-American (1985) New York City Basketball Hall of Fame - inducted 2008

Career NBA statistics
Points	14,463 (13.2 ppg)
Rebounds	4,084 (3.7 rpg)
Assists	7,987 (7.3 apg)

Rodney Strickland (born July 11, 1966) is an American basketball coach and former professional basketball player. He is currently the head coach at Long Island University. Before joining LIU, he worked with the NBA G League's professional path program.

Strickland played college basketball for the DePaul Blue Demons. He earned All-American honors there. He had a long career in the National Basketball Association (NBA), playing from 1988 to 2005. Strickland also coached as an assistant for the South Florida Bulls. He worked in administrative roles for the University of Kentucky and the University of Memphis basketball teams. He was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.

High School Basketball Journey
College Basketball Highlights
NBA Career Teams
NBA Career Statistics
- Regular season
- Playoffs
Coaching Career
Head Coaching Record
Personal Life and Family
See also

High School Basketball Journey

Rodney Strickland grew up in the Bronx, New York. He played for the New York Gauchos, a famous youth basketball team. As a junior, he led Truman High School to a state championship. He was considered one of the top 10 high school players in the country. For his senior year, he moved to Oak Hill Academy in Virginia.

College Basketball Highlights

Strickland became a college star at DePaul University. He played in 87 games during his time there. In his junior year, he was named a First Team All-American. He averaged 20.0 points and 7.8 assists per game that season.

Strickland was an All-American pick in both 1987 and 1988. He helped the Blue Demons reach the NCAA Tournament three years in a row. They even made it to the "Sweet Sixteen" in 1986 and 1987. He is one of DePaul's top players ever. He ranks high in career scoring, assists, and steals.

NBA Career Teams

New York Knicks (1988–1990)

The New York Knicks drafted Rodney Strickland in 1988. He was picked in the first round. He played for his hometown team. He was a backup point guard to Mark Jackson. Strickland played in all 82 games in his first season. He averaged 8.9 points and 3.9 assists. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.

San Antonio Spurs (1990–1992)

The Knicks traded Strickland to the San Antonio Spurs in the 1989–1990 season. He really shined in San Antonio. The Spurs won 18 of 24 games when he started. He often led the team in assists. In 10 playoff games, he averaged 12.3 points and 11.2 assists.

In the 1990–91 season, Strickland showed how exciting he could be. He averaged 13.8 points and 8.0 assists. He led the Spurs in assists many times. He also led them in steals often.

For the 1991–92 season, Strickland missed the first 24 games due to a contract issue. He then started 54 of 57 games. He averaged 13.8 points, 8.6 assists, and 4.6 rebounds. He scored 20 or more points eight times. He also set a career-high with 19 assists in one game.

Portland Trail Blazers (1992–1996)

Before the 1992–93 season, Strickland joined the Portland Trail Blazers. He signed as a free agent. On April 5, 1994, he set a Trail Blazers record. He had 20 assists in a single game.

On January 24, 1995, Strickland scored a career-high 36 points. This was against his old team, the Knicks. In the playoffs that year, he averaged 23.3 points and 12.3 assists. This was in a first-round loss to the Phoenix Suns.

Despite his great play, the Trail Blazers never got past the first round of the playoffs. In his four seasons with Portland, Strickland averaged 17 points and 8.6 assists per game.

Washington Bullets/Wizards (1996–2001)

Strickland was traded to the Washington Bullets in 1996. In his first season, he averaged 17.2 points and 8.9 assists. He helped the Bullets reach the playoffs in 1997. This was their first playoff appearance in eight seasons.

The 1997–98 season was his best. He averaged 17.8 points and led the league with 10.5 assists per game. During this year, he also reached a big milestone. He became one of only 25 players in NBA history to have 10,000 points and 5,000 assists. Strickland was also chosen for the All-NBA Second Team.

Later Seasons and Retirement (2001–2005)

Strickland returned to the Portland Trail Blazers in 2001. He finished his playing career with several other teams. These included the Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, Toronto Raptors, and Houston Rockets.

He played in 1,094 games during his career. He scored over 14,000 points and had nearly 8,000 assists. He was often ranked among the NBA's top 10 players for assists per game. Overall, he averaged 13.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 7.3 assists per game.

NBA Career Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	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

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1988–89	New York	81	10	16.8	.467	.322	.745	2.0	3.9	1.2	.0	8.9
1989–90	New York	51	0	20.0	.440	.286	.638	2.5	4.3	1.4	.2	8.4
1989–90	San Antonio	31	24	36.2	.468	.222	.615	4.3	8.0	1.8	.2	14.2
1990–91	San Antonio	58	56	35.8	.482	.333	.763	3.8	8.0	2.0	.2	13.8
1991–92	San Antonio	57	54	36.0	.455	.333	.687	4.6	8.6	2.1	.3	13.8
1992–93	Portland	78	35	31.7	.485	.133	.717	4.3	7.2	1.7	.3	13.7
1993–94	Portland	82	58	35.2	.483	.200	.749	4.5	9.0	1.8	.3	17.2
1994–95	Portland	64	61	35.4	.466	.374	.745	5.0	8.8	1.9	.1	18.9
1995–96	Portland	67	63	37.7	.460	.342	.652	4.4	9.6	1.4	.2	18.7
1996–97	Washington	82	81	36.5	.466	.169	.738	4.1	8.9	1.7	.2	17.2
1997–98	Washington	76	76	39.7	.434	.250	.726	5.3	10.5*	1.7	.3	17.8
1998–99	Washington	44	43	37.1	.416	.286	.746	4.8	9.9	1.7	.1	15.7
1999–00	Washington	69	67	31.7	.429	.048	.702	3.8	7.5	1.4	.3	12.6
2000–01	Washington	33	28	30.9	.426	.250	.782	3.2	7.0	1.3	.1	12.2
2000–01	Portland	21	0	16.7	.418	.000	.577	1.7	3.4	.5	.0	4.6
2001–02	Miami	76	64	30.2	.443	.308	.766	3.1	6.1	1.1	.1	10.4
2002–03	Minnesota	47	8	20.3	.432	.091	.738	2.0	4.6	1.0	.1	6.8
2003–04	Orlando	46	9	19.9	.454	.303	.750	2.6	4.0	.6	.2	6.8
2003–04	Toronto	15	1	18.8	.333	.000	.682	2.5	3.9	.5	.3	4.7
2004–05	Houston	16	2	12.3	.209	.500	.900	1.7	2.4	.2	.1	1.8
Career		1,094	740	30.7	.454	.282	.721	3.7	7.3	1.5	.1	10.2

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1989	New York	9	0	12.3	.449	1.000	.529	1.4	2.8	.4	.1	6.0
1990	San Antonio	10	10	38.4	.425	.000	.556	5.3	11.2	1.4	.0	12.3
1991	San Antonio	4	4	42.0	.433	.000	.810	5.3	8.8	2.3	.0	18.8
1992	San Antonio	2	2	40.0	.591	—	.625	3.5	9.5	1.5	1.0	15.5
1993	Portland	4	4	39.0	.423	.000	.833	6.5	9.3	1.3	.5	13.5
1994	Portland	4	4	38.5	.500	.000	.815	4.0	9.8	1.0	.5	23.5
1995	Portland	3	3	42.0	.415	.400	.778	4.0	12.3	1.0	.7	23.3
1996	Portland	5	5	40.4	.440	.500	.639	6.2	8.4	1.0	.0	20.6
1997	Washington	3	3	41.3	.423	.500	.737	6.0	8.3	1.0	.0	19.7
2001	Portland	2	0	9.5	.333	—	.667	2.0	1.0	1.0	.0	4.0
2003	Minnesota	6	0	12.2	.524	—	1.000	1.0	2.8	.7	.3	4.7
Career		52	35	30.7	.446	.286	.706	4.0	7.5	1.1	.2	13.4

Coaching Career

In September 2008, Rodney Strickland was honored. He was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame. Other NBA stars like Kenny Anderson and Sam Perkins were also inducted.

Strickland began his coaching journey at the University of Memphis. He worked as the director of basketball operations. Later, he became an assistant coach at USF. This was under former Kentucky assistant coach Orlando Antigua. He coached there from 2014 to 2017. He also held an administrative role at the University of Kentucky. He worked under Coach John Calipari.

Head Coaching Record

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing
LIU Sharks (Northeast Conference) (2022–present)
2022–23	LIU	3–26	1–15	9th
2023–24	LIU	7–22	6–10	7th
2024–25	LIU	17–16	12–4	2nd
LIU:		27–64 (.297)	19–29 (.396)
Total:		27–64 (.297)
National champion Conference regular season champion Conference tournament champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Conference division champion

Personal Life and Family

Rodney Strickland is the godfather of Kyrie Irving. Kyrie Irving was the first overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. He was also the 2012 Rookie of the Year.

Strickland has a son named Tai. Tai played college basketball for Georgia Southern. He also played for Wisconsin and Temple. Another son, Terell, played for James Madison. Strickland also has a daughter.