Year: | 1982-86 |
Hometown: | Atlanta, Ga. |
Team: | Men's Basketball |
Induction Year: | 2003 |
Winning records, and Ohio Valley Conference championship, and a berth in the National Invitational Tournament is just a sampling of Stephen Kite’s legacy with the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagle basketball team. He was a four-year starter who piled up honors and awards from 1982 through 1986.
One of the most versatile and multi-faceted players in school history, Kite was the catalyst of the Golden Eagle teams under coach Tom Deaton that broke a six-year streak of losing records and piled up 67 victories in four years. With Kite headlining the squad, Tech won 16 games in 1982-83 and raised that to 18 wins the following year, in 1984-85, the Gooden Eagles rolled to a 19-9 record, won the OVC title and advanced to the National Invitational Tournament.
Kite contributed in every phase of the game. He finished his career as Tech’s all-time scoring leader with 1,806 points, and was also a standout on defense, ranking first in career steals (213), second in rebounds (844), and third in blocked shots (55).
After completing his playing career, Kite served as student assistant coach during the 1986-87 season,
The numbers Kite compiled still stood strong in the Golden Eagle record books at the time of his induction – he still ranked second in scoring, fifth in rebounds, second in steals and sixth in blocked shots. Kite also ranked fifth all-time in field goal percentage (.564) and fourth in games played (113).
His accolades are numerous: Kite was a three-time Tech scoring and rebounding leader; he led the team in steals during his freshman, sophomore, and senior seasons; during his senior year, he led the team in blocked shots. In 1985-86, Kite received the prestigious Sam Harley Lynn Award, and won the team’s Academic Award that same season.
In 1982-83, he broke into the spotlight by earning Freshman All-American honors from Basketball News. For three seasons, he received the team’s Top Rebounder Award, he was the Ohio Valley Conference Rookie of the Year in 1983, and in 1984-85 he was named honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press.
That same year, Kite was named to the NIT All-Star Team and became he first Golden Eagle to be named OVC Player of the Year. He also became the first Tech player to be a four-time all-OVC selection. After his career at Tech, Kite played professional basketball for teams in Denmark and Holland.
After returning to school more than a decade after leaving Tech, Kite received his degree in interdisciplinary studies in 2002.