MIAMI (July 6, 2017) – Former FIU men's basketball standout
Michael Kessens has signed a two-year contract to play professionally for Eisbaren-Bremerhaven in Germany's easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga.
"I am extremely excited and thankful to continue playing basketball on a professional level after college," said Kessens. "I can't wait to go back to Europe and take on this new challenge."
Kessens, a native of Nyon, Switzerland, was a welcome addition to the FIU roster during the 2016-17 campaign, taking full advantage of his one-year of remaining eligibility after graduating and transferring from Alabama. He played in 29 of the Panthers' 31 games, starting in all 29, and was second on the team in scoring, averaging 12.9 points-per-game. He led the team in field goal shooting by hitting 56.5 percent (152-of-269) of his shots from the floor, which was fifth in C-USA. He also grabbed a team-leading 9.0 rebounds-per-outing which was second in Conference USA. During the season, Kessens had a record-setting performance at Elon scoring 17 points and grabbing an FIU single-game-record 23 rebounds against the Phoenix. His 23 boards finished tied for the fifth-most in a game during the season in Division I.
The 6-foot-9 forward began his collegiate career at Longwood University in Virginia where he averaged 13.7 points- and 8.8 rebounds-per-game. He then transferred to Alabama, playing two seasons and averaging 4.8 points-per-game and 2.6 rebounds-per-outing in 65 games, including 31 starts for the Crimson Tide.
Click here to read Kessens' complete bio.
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in eight different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and at Riccardo Silva Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU is Worlds Ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
