Kevin Gamble, an assistant coach and one of the pillars of the Central Michigan men’s basketball program, is leaving CMU to join the NBA’s Toronto Raptors as an advance scout.
Gamble, who played in the NBA for 10 years with the Portland Trailblazers, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat and Sacramento Kings, has been on coach Keno Davis’ staff since Davis arrive in Mount Pleasant for the 2012-13 season.
Along with assistants Jeff Smith and Kyle Gerdeman, Gamble and Davis combined to form a longstanding coaching quartet that transformed CMU into a championship-caliber program both on the court and off.
“Kevin has been instrumental as a member of our staff for the past six seasons in helping players develop and get the most out of their talent which has led to success on the court for our program as well as individual accolades and even professional basketball careers,” Davis said.
Several Chippewas who have been coached by Gamble have gone on to professional careers on the hardwood, including Luke Meyer, Marcus Keene, Braylon Rayson, Kyle Randall, Chris Fowler, Cecil Williams and Rayshawn Simmons.
Gamble helped guide CMU to one Mid-American Conference overall regular-season championship and two MAC West Division titles during his time on the Chippewa bench.
“When (players) come in at (age) 17, 18 — sometimes you get junior-college players who are a little bit older — the most satisfying thing is seeing them leave, seeing them get their diploma and seeing them go on and be successful, whether that’s basketball related or getting a job as a CPA or what have you.
“Basketball, yeah it’s fun and winning championships and all that stuff, but the main thing is seeing them grow into men and become productive citizens. That’s the most satisfying thing to me.”
Gamble’s experience as an NBA player was invaluable in the development of countless Chippewas, whether they went on to the professional ranks or not.
“Kevin, along with coach Jeff Smith and coach Kyle Gerdeman, deserves much of the credit for not only developing the players in our program, but also recruiting great young men who fit in with the culture of CMU and of Mount Pleasant,” Davis said.
Gamble and his wife Alesha have two children, a daughter, Averi, who is a student at Central Michigan, and a son, Kevin, who attends Alma College and is a member of that school’s men’s basketball team.
Gamble helped lead the Chippewas to a fourth consecutive .500-or-better finish in 2017-18, marking the first time the program has put together four such seasons since the early 1970s.
CMU finished 21-15 in 2017-18, the second-highest single-season win total since 2002-03. The highest win total (23) during that stretch came in 2014-15, the third year in which Davis and his staff were in charge.
In 2017-18, CMU earned a postseason bid for the third time in the last four years and set a program standard by winning back-to-back road games – the first at Fort Wayne, the second at Wofford — in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
https://cmuchippewas.com/news/2018/9/5/mens-basketball-gamble-leaves-for-nba.aspx
