Daniel Kickert inducted into Saint Mary's Hall of Fame

Congratulations to Kings Assistant Coach and former Kings captain Daniel Kickert on being inducted into the Saint Mary’s Athletics Hall of Fame.

Kickert played four seasons in Moraga (2002-06) and was honoured by the WCC all four seasons, beginning with an All-Freshman Team nod in 2003 and three-consecutive All-WCC First Team honours from 2004-06.

Kickert played for the Kings for three seasons, from 2018-2021. He was named captain in the 2020-2021 season. In 2016 He was the first player in NBL history to join the 50-40-90 club. He announced his retirement in June of 2021 and now remains with the Kings as an assistant coach under Chase Buford.

Kings Media spoke with Daniel Kickert on what it means for him to be inducted and what Saint Mary’s has done for his life and career.

“It’s something I am very proud of,” Kickert told Kings media.

“Saint Mary’s means a lot to me. I spent four pretty pivotal years of my life there, I met my wife there, we got married at the school and made some lifelong connections there. Connections that continue to this day.

“My wife was in the Bay Area, we go back every opportunity we can. We’re going back there this offseason.”

Saint Mary’s has a rich history of Australian’s, including Patty Mills, Matthew Dellavedova and Jock Landale. Kickert was the second Australian ever to play for the Gaels and was a trailblazer for the programs’ continued success with Australian athletes.

“It’s awesome to look back on,” he said

“It’s cool to think I was a part of that initial wave and really opened the floodgates for Aussies.

“It’s interesting to think what if Adam Caporn didn’t go to Saint Mary’s and I didn’t go, without us potentially going there and putting it on the radar for Australians. But who knows if that pipeline ever would have been opened? It may have had anyway because Randy Bennett is an extremely good recruiter.”

Kickert upon graduating was the school’s All-Time leading scorer. In that time Saint Mary’s has maintained their Australian connection through their head coach Randy Bennett.

“It’s a community that I’ve always stayed a part of and stay in touch with,” Kickert said.

“And I’ve been lucky that my head coach is still there [Bennett]. After all this time, 16 years since I graduated, it’s something I always go back to.

“I’ll take my kids to the school this offseason, show them the school that I have a lot of good memories of."

Kickert explained that in college he learnt patience, it is the skill he has taken from college into his coaching philosophy. He understands what it is like to be young, enthusiastic and impatient. The Kings roster is a youthful squad, Kickert learnt how to adapt from the ups and downs of a college season and tries to implement that education into his coaching.

“Watching young guys go through the difficulty the ups and downs of a season, performance, injuries and just dealing with being away from home,” he said.

“Yeah, all the all those things that come with being a young player that's trying to strive to make a career for themselves. After being through it, and now being a coach, I think my college career prepared me and now I can prepare them.”

One of those young players is Jordan Hunter, who also attended Saint Mary’s. Hunter is currently rehabbing a left navicular fracture. Sustaining a season-ending injury requires a lot of patience, putting the work in and not rushing back to make an injury worse.

Kickert has been a mentor to Hunter, especially last season with Hunter and Kickert sharing the court, Hunter was the runner-up in the Most Improved Player award. Now Kickert is a mentor off the coaches bench, rather than as a teammate on the court.

“We talk about it [Saint Mary’s] a lot, we compare our generations and how it was like in school,” Kickert said.

“It’s really good to have that connection about our life experiences. Talking about how our formative years on and off the court at the same school. We have a lot of connections, people we both knew at school.

"Deep down I’m always excited for all the former Gaels to have success in the NBL & WNBL, Europe and wherever they go. I think every Gael is like that, I really enjoy reminiscing about a majority of our experiences with our alma mater.

"All the blood, sweat and tears at that school, that is now there forever.”