Kay Felder
Kahlil Ameer "Kay" Felder Jr. is an American professional basketball player for Victoria Libertas Pesaro of the Serie A2. Felder, a point guard, declared for the 2016 NBA draft at the conclusion of his junior year at Oakland, and was drafted in the second round. Felder is the Horizon League career assists leader.
High school career
Felder attended Pershing High School in Detroit, Michigan where he was named Public School League MVP his senior season. His senior year, he finished fourth in Mr. Basketball of Michigan voting.He was not heavily recruited by high-major colleges and was noticed by Oakland assistant coach Saddi Washington. Felder was also recruited by Akron, Southern Illinois and St. Bonaventure. Oakland offered Felder a scholarship when he was a sophomore and he committed prior to his senior season. To show their commitment to him, Oakland did not recruit a point guard the season before he arrived so Felder knew there would be no competition.
College career
In 2013–14, Felder was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Year. As a sophomore in 2014–15, Felder finished second in the National Collegiate Athletic Association with 7.6 assists per game, two assists behind the leader, Jalan West of Northwestern State. He was also a finalist for the Lou Henson Award, given to the "Mid-Major Player of the Year".Junior year (2015–16)
As a junior in 2015–16, Felder was consistently being evaluated as an NBA prospect, with professional scouts having attended Oakland's games. In December, playing against Washington, then-No. 1 Michigan State, and then-No. 5 Virginia, Felder averaged 35 points, 7 assists and made 47.9% of his field goals. Oakland led at halftime of each of those games, beating Washington, but losing to Michigan State and Virginia. Felder scored 37 points with nine assists against Michigan State in a 99–93 overtime loss at The Palace of Auburn Hills.Felder was named a top-five finalist for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the top male point guard in Division I. He was also named the mid-season recipient of the Lute Olson Award, given annually to the most outstanding non-freshman men's college basketball player in NCAA Division I. He was placed on the mid-season watch list for the Naismith College Player of the Year.
Felder won the NCAA Player of the Week award on February 9, 2016. He also won six Horizon League Player of the Week awards during the season, tying the Horizon League record.
Despite using only three of his four years of college eligibility, Felder broke the Horizon League career assists mark of 699, which was originally set by Ralph Lee of Xavier in 1986. Felder also set the Oakland school record for consecutive free throws made, making 46 in a row with his last miss on January 29. Felder was named the Horizon League Player of the Year and earned All-Horizon League First Team honors.
On April 5, 2016, Felder declared for the 2016 NBA draft, forgoing his final year of college eligibility.
College statistics
Bold italics indicates led NCAA Division IProfessional career
Cleveland Cavaliers (2016–2017)
During the 2016 NBA Draft Combine, the Felder tied Pat Connaughton for the second-highest maximum vertical leap recorded in draft combine history at. Despite his high marks in the draft combine, Felder was still projected to be a late-second-round draft pick, with the risk that he would perhaps not get drafted altogether. Felder was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the 54th overall pick. He was later traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers on draft night, and in July 2016, he joined the Cavaliers for the 2016 NBA Summer League. On August 6, 2016, he signed a three-year, $2.4 million contract with the Cavaliers. He made his debut for the Cavaliers in their third game of the season on October 29, scoring two points in five minutes off the bench in a 105–99 win over the Orlando Magic. On December 14, with Kyrie Irving resting, Felder scored a season-high 14 in 23 minutes in a 93–85 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. During his rookie season, he had multiple assignments with the Canton Charge of the NBA Development League.On October 14, 2017, Felder was traded, along with Richard Jefferson, two future second-round draft picks and cash considerations, to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for the rights to Sergiy Gladyr and Dimitrios Agravanis. He was immediately waived by the Hawks.