Name: Kelly Wise
Born: Jan. 11, 1980
Hometown: Ft. Walton Beach, Fla.
Position: Forward
Major: Physical Education
In his third year at The University of Memphis, Kelly Wise continues to contribute to the success of the Tigers.
Before the season began, Wise was selected for the pre-season All-Conference USA team.
Wise leads Memphis in scoring (14.6 ppg) and rebounding (11.1 rpg). He is also the only player in Conference USA averaging a double-double.
Wise currently has 143 career blocks, which ranks 7th all-time at The U of M.
He also broke arena records at Miami and Tennessee by pulling down 21 boards.
With 1.1 seconds left in the game, Wise went to the charity stripe and hit the shot that clinched the win for the Tigers against DePaul, improving a three-game winning streak to four, and recording 13 points and 18 boards in the process.
"We just need to keep playing like we have been playing," Wise said. "We got off to a slow start, but we just need to come together."
In his sophomore season, Wise was named All-Conference USA third team. Wise was ranked in the top three for rebounding, pulling down 8.6 boards per game and averaging 2.5 blocks per game.
His 14.5 ppg was ranked 12th in C-USA. He also had 71 blocks his sophomore year, which ranks 7th-best season in school history.
As a freshman at The U of M, Wise was ranked fourth in the league in blocked shots.
In his first college start, Wise made an impact by scoring a game-high 20 points, bringing down eight rebounds and blocking five shots.
He ended his freshman season averaging 6.2 points and 5.0 rebounds.
As a senior at Choctawhatchee High School, Wise averaged 19.8 points, 11.1 rebounds and 4.3 blocked shots per game. His junior year he led the team to a 26-7 record, averaging 15.5 ppg, 11.1 rpg and 3.8 bpg.
Wise has set goals for the season, and winning is one of them.
"We just need to get as many wins as we can," he said.
The Tigers will take on the St. Louis Billikens tonight at 8 p.m. at the Pyramid.
