Living in Atlanta, more than two years and 2,000 miles removed from his last collegiate basketball game, Kemmy Burgess [2003-06] was an unlikely candidate to one day land in the Seawolf Hall of Fame. But when he got the call from then-UAA assistant Shane Rinner – who had coached Burgess at NAIA program Vanguard University in Los Angeles – the former San Diego prep hoops legend decided to give his playing career and his education another shot.
Three years later, Burgess had delivered on a record-setting career with the Seawolves that included 1,136 points, 195 three-pointers, 39 victories and two NCAA Tournament berths in his two campaigns. The powerfully built, 6-1, 185-pound guard set UAA and Great Northwest Athletic Conference records with his .474 career three-point percentage, making the 20-foot shot look as easy as a layup with his effortless, line-drive stroke. As a junior in 2003-04, Burgess earned GNAC Newcomer of the Year and Second Team All-GNAC honors, averaging 16.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game for a Seawolf club that went 20-10, including wins over Div. I Texas State and Canisius. His 100-of-200 three-point accuracy led the GNAC and helped the Seawolves lead all three NCAA divisions in team three-point percentage.
Following a redshirt season to heal from shoulder surgery, Burgess came back to earn First Team All-GNAC and honorable mention All-America awards in 2005-06, becoming the only player in the Div. II national stats that year to finish with top-25 ranks in scoring (21.1 ppg), three-pointers per game (3.1), three-point pct. (.450) and free throw pct. (.868). With the Seawolves staring at a 13-8 record at the end of January, he stepped up his efforts with 27.4 ppg over the last nine regular-season contests – including wins over Top 10-ranked Seattle Pacific and Western Washington – to help clinch another playoff berth.
The 2005-06 Bill MacKay Athlete of the Year earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing from UAA in 2006 and went on to play professionally in Europe for four seasons. He returned to the States in 2011 as an assistant coach at fellow NCAA Div. II program Texas A&M-International, and he now resides in Phoenix with his wife, Nas, and their newborn twin daughters, Suren and Yara.
