The Bayern Basketball team has once again become active on the transfer market: The five-time German champion have signed shooting guard K.C. Rivers and thus react to the knee injury of top scorer Darrun Hilliard, who will be out for weeks. Last season, Rivers played for Zenit St. Petersburg. The 34-year-old EuroLeague veteran is a good acquaintance: Rivers came to Munich in the summer of 2015 from then-EuroLeague winners Real Madrid on a temporary contract before moving back to the Spanish capital after their unfortunate first-round exit in the top flight.
"After the low blow of having to do without Darrun and his enormous contribution to our game for a longer period, we decided to close this gap," said sporting director Daniele Baiesi. "K.C. is a familiar face who will let us compensate for this loss thanks to his high-level background. He will fit into a locker room he already knows. We are very happy to have him back in Munich. This will give Darrun the time to fully recover from his knee problems."
200 EuroLeague games, ten for Bayern
Rivers completed medical checks on Friday and Saturday, will work with individual coach Emilio Kovacic over the weekend and will train with the team for the first time on Monday. He said, "I'm back in Munich and I don't think anyone expects me to fill anyone's shoes. I'm here to contribute and help the team continue on the right path. I'm expected to be a leader, a voice. All of that will come with time, though it won't take much time."
Kelvin Creswell "K.C." Rivers - left-handed like Hilliard - is on pace for exactly 200 games in the EuroLeague (8.2 ppg, three-point percentage 38.4 percent), ten of them totaling 108 points in the half-season for Bayern. In the BBL (13 games), he was the top scorer with an average of 15 points until his departure in December. Khimki Moscow, Real, Panathinaikos Athens for two years, Kaunas and most recently Zenit, which reached the EuroLeague playoffs with him for the first time, were the other stations in a career that began in the second Italian league after college at Clemson University.
In addition to the EuroLeague triumph with Real Madrid in 2015 (23 Final Four points), the three-point specialist won eleven further trophies in twelve professional years, including the Spanish double twice, two Greek national championships and the Serbian title and Adriatic championship with Red Star Belgrade in 2019.
K.C. RIVERS (*1. März 1987, Charlotte, North Carolina/USA)
Shooting Guard/Small Forward – 1,96 m – 98 kg
Until 2005: Oak Hill Academy (Virginia, High School)
2005 –2009: Clemson University (NCAA)
2009 – 2010: AB Latina (Serie A2/ITA), Benetton Treviso (Serie A/ITA)
2010 – 2011: Chorale Roanne (FRA), Virtus Bologna (ITA)
2011 – 2012: Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar (RUS)
2013 – 2014: Reno Bighorn (NBA D-League)
2014 – 2015: Real Madrid
2015 – 2016: FC Bayern Basketball, Real Madrid
2016 – 2018: Panathinaikos Athen
2018 – 2019: Pallacanestro Reggiana (ITA), Roter Stern Belgrad
2019 – 2020: Zalgiris Kaunas
2020 – 2021: Zenit Sankt Petersburg
Accomplishments:
Spanischer Supercup 2014
EuroLeague 2015
Spanische Meisterschaft 2015, 2016
Spanischer Pokal 2015, 2016
Griechische Meisterschaft 2017, 2018
Griechischer Pokal 2017
Serbische Meisterschaft 2019
Adria-League 2019
Litauischer Pokal 2020
Litauische Meisterschaft 2020