The UWGB men’s basketball team has seen its fair share of talented players come through its program over the years, but a name that will never be forgotten in the school’s history books is Keifer Sykes.
As one of the most entertaining and accomplished players in the program’s history, Sykes has a list of accolades that exemplify the impact he made on the program. The 5-foot-11 guard was named the Horizon League player of the year during his junior and senior seasons at Green Bay, scored the second most points of all time in UWGB history (2,096), ranks first in free throws made (557), third in assists (526), and fourth in field goals made (713). Sykes was a 2014 Bob Cousy Award finalist and set a Horizon League record-earning player of the week 13 times. To recognize his lasting influence on the program, Sykes was inducted into the Phoenix Hall of Fame during the summer of 2023.
Coming out of high school, Sykes only had two Division 1 offers, Eastern Illinois and Green Bay. When it came time to commit, he felt that UWGB was the best fit for him as it was also not too far from his hometown of Chicago. Sykes also appreciated the effort that the UWGB staff made to recruit him and make him feel welcome. “When they did the home visit, they really sold my parents, saying that I would graduate, saying how we would be able to change the program. They already had Alec Brown, and everything was trending upward, so I felt like it was a good fit for me,” stated Sykes.
Sykes attended John Marshall Metropolitan High School in Chicago and committed to UWGB before his junior season. When he arrived at UWGB, he was only 17 years old and the youngest freshman in the country. Being his first time away from home, Sykes felt that it was important to stay focused, and he acknowledged that coaches helped him and his teammates to be mature and be held accountable by “treating them like men.”
Reflecting on his growth as a person and a player at Green Bay, Sykes felt that he significantly improved his leadership skills during his time. Noting that their team had a lot of transfer players, Sykes felt it was important to bring guys together and build chemistry. Sykes aimed to be a leader and “bring the best out of others” on and off the court. The team saw lots of success with 24 wins during Sykes’ junior and senior seasons. “We would only get better as far as we go together. Every day, I was just trying to make the sacrifices necessary, but I also led from the front and did the work. Also, be a role model and just lead the way,” said Sykes.
As Sykes finished his career at UWGB, he didn’t know where basketball would take him next. With the potential of playing overseas, in the NBA D-League, or getting drafted to the NBA, Sykes moved forward with an open mind and knew that either way, he would have to work his way up in the professional ranks. “I would just be starting from the bottom,” Sykes stated. He recalled having successful workouts with a few NBA teams prior to the draft, including the Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers, and San Antonio Spurs, which resulted in him getting called back for a second workout with each team. Sykes said, “Coming into it and having so much success at UWGB, I didn’t want to be big-headed. I wanted to stay level and have no entitlement.”
Sykes went undrafted in the 2015 NBA Draft but joined the Cleveland Cavaliers for the NBA Summer League. In October, he signed with the Austin Spurs in the NBA Development League (D-League), now known as the NBA G League. Sykes put together an efficient rookie season, averaging 13 PPG. Sykes felt it wasn’t easy to play in the D-League at that time because there were only 18 teams compared to 31 today and fewer resources. With players coming in from three different NBA teams and rotating rosters almost every night, Sykes had to “get in where he fits in.”
Sykes’ performances improved as the season went along, and the team made it to the Western Conference finals. “That first grind, after college of being a professional, it wasn’t easy. I remember that year just staying consistent, just getting better, each and every day, and just focusing on that,” said Sykes. After the season, Sykes was invited to the NBA D-League Elite Camp. The event offered the top 45 players from the past season the opportunity to play in front of different NBA personnel.
Recording a 43-inch max vertical at the 2015-16 NBA Draft Combine, Sykes was one of the most athletic players in his draft class, ranking third overall for that year’s combine and 16th overall in all-time rankings according to Yahoo Sports. He placed two spots behind Pat Connaughton, who recorded a 44-inch jump. Due to his athleticism and dunking abilities, Sykes was invited to perform in the 2015 NCAA dunk contest as well as the 2016 D-League Dunk Contest. On the same weekend as Sykes’ D-League dunk contest performance, he got to experience the NBA All-Star weekend in Toronto, which included the historic dunk contest between Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine.
After Sykes’ rookie season with the Austin Spurs, he took his talents abroad and played for top basketball clubs in countries such as South Korea, Turkey, Italy, China, and Australia. Reflecting on his time overseas, Sykes felt that it was important to be mentally strong and maintain his fitness and conditioning. He also noted how it is different from life in the NCAA and NBA. “The conditions are not like the NCAA where you’ve got a big campus, you’ve got all the resources, and everything is for you,” Sykes stated. Sykes has learned to appreciate the lifestyle abroad as the time zone difference between people back home allows him to “focus all on basketball.” Sykes said, “At the beginning of my day, all of you are asleep, so I’m just training, napping, then I wake up, and it’s the middle of the day over there. I get to explore and just learn so many things in the world.”
After roughly 6 years of playing professionally abroad, Sykes saved up his finances and decided to give his NBA dreams another shot. During the summer of 2021, he received a call inviting him to play in the TBT (The Basketball Tournament), which is a single-elimination basketball tournament that takes place annually in the U.S. featuring 64 teams competing for a million-dollar cash prize and has games broadcasted on ESPN. Sykes accepted his invitation to the TBT and hit the game-winning shot in the championship for his team “Boeheim’s Army,” with Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim supporting from the sideline.
Potentially due to his performances in the TBT, Sykes signed a training camp deal with the Indiana Pacers. The Chicago native was glad to take his talents to Indiana as it wasn’t far from home, “it’s a basketball city,” and he felt that he could fit in with their roster at the time. By signing early with the Pacers, Sykes joined the summer league team. He stayed with the team for training camp and played in a few preseason games before getting waived and sent back to the G-League. “How the NBA works, it’s really like a numbers game. I tell people it’s politics and numbers. You have to be in the right place at the right time,” said Sykes.
Despite getting sent back to the minor league, Sykes continued to work hard and was eventually rewarded for his resilience. The Pacers were going through some struggles and dealt with injuries under head coach Rick Carlisle during his first season, which forced them to go into “rebuild mode.” With Pacers’ point guards T.J. McConnell and Malcolm Brogdon out with injuries, Sykes was called up and signed to the team in December to improve depth at the guard position. The signing being around the same time as Sykes’ birthday (Dec. 30) made him very grateful for the opportunity. “I had just been working so hard since UWGB, since high school. To make the NBA, it just kind of felt like it was a do-or-die moment,” Sykes mentioned.
Although Sykes was now joining the official Pacers roster, his contract was not guaranteed. He explained his contract as “sort of like a 10-day” and recalled that if he played well, he would get signed for the rest of the season, but if not, he would get waived. Sykes went into his first game against Charlotte with a great deal of nervousness nerves, as well as his second game against Chicago when he had family come to watch. “That’s something you build up your life to make the NBA, and for me, it was like a do-or-die moment. I didn’t get a chance at the beginning of the year, so I’m trying to do my best. My family’s there, all the pressure,” Sykes stated.
A pivotal moment came at halftime during this Chicago game when coach Carlisle brought Sykes in and told him to “just play basketball.” “Everything is the same. The free throw line is here, and the NBA three is here. It’s basketball,” Carlisle said. Sykes scored his first basket against the Bulls that game and was able to continue improving his play, scoring 10 points the next game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, along with five rebounds and three assists. He went on to score 22 points in the following game, where he started against a Knicks team featuring Julius Randle, Taj Gibson, and RJ Barrett. The Pacers played the Brooklyn Nets next, which featured the All-Star trio of Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving. This was Irving’s first time back with the team after being separated due to New York City’s vaccine mandate. Sykes recorded 18 points, five assists, and three rebounds in a loss to the Nets. Other memorable games for Sykes included playing the Bucks in Wisconsin, in Phoenix against Chris Paul, the Lakers against LeBron James, and in Golden State, where Sykes hit a go-ahead 3-pointer in an overtime win against Steph Curry and the Warriors during a nationally televised game on TNT.
Jared Valleskey, a communication major at UWGB, recalls watching Sykes NBA games live on TV. “I never fully expected an athlete from UWGB to be hitting game-winners in a prime-time game. Not many NBA players have come out of UWGB, so it was a cool thing to see for sure,” said Valleskey.
Sykes appeared in 32 games for the Pacers and was ultimately waived on April 7, 2022. He went on to play three more seasons in the G League for the Nets, Bulls, and Pistons affiliate teams before he went back overseas to play in Italy, where he currently plays. When reflecting on his experiences between the G-League, NBA, and playing abroad, Sykes felt that the NBA had the most talented players in the world and that the culture in overseas leagues is “cutthroat” as players are trying to hold onto their spots. “In the NBA, players have to get rotated. It’s a revolving door because there’s a draft every year. Over here, it’s more based on performance. Your contracts are not really guaranteed, so they can remove you within a month or two. To play basketball professionally is something that everybody has to work hard for,” Sykes stated.
Before Sykes left for Italy, he visited campus for his UWGB Elite camp, which was held in August. The camp featured alumni Alfonso McKinnie, who played for the Golden State Warriors during 2018-19 on a team that made the NBA finals, Carrington Love, and Wisconsin basketball influencer Tristan Jass, who has millions of followers across his social media platforms. Local basketball trainer and former overseas professional Harry Boyce, who trained Sykes during his college days at UWGB, led the training for players at the camp.
After seeing inconsistencies with the team’s success and watching several coaches and players go in and out of the program due to NIL, Sykes felt it was time to come back and advocate for a change. “With a small school like UWGB, I just thought it was important for us to build some culture, build some community, and just find a way to bring the alumni together, which goes back to my leadership. Just trying to trailblaze and give back to a city that gave so much to me and to us,” said Sykes. He aims to host the camp annually if it continues to be successful and wants to bring back more alumni to gain recognition, love, and respect for the history of the school and the city. “The goal is just to bring basketball together in Green Bay in general. If we could find a way to recruit players and find a way to get this team to have success every year consistently. You know, I’m here to just try to do my part,” Sykes stated.
As Sykes has spent 10 years playing professionally, and he plans for life after his playing career, he’s begun to consider new ways of “expanding his palate” financially. Sykes chose to stay in the U.S. for the past few years so he could start building connections and continue to build his “business acumen.” He mentioned that a friend of his from Chicago is now the general manager of the Chicago Sky in the WNBA, which has inspired Sykes to become a general manager or president of operations himself. Since his stint with the Pacers, Sykes completed the NBA business program, real estate, and technology programs as well. In the fall of 2024, Sykes was accepted into the Crossover Into Business Program at Harvard University. Sykes stated, “Continuing to be a student is something that was always important for me. Especially because I have kids, I want to give back information to them and learn as much as I can for them.” Sykes wants to learn how to affect the game not only on but off the court as well. After finishing the Harvard Business program, Sykes will consider working towards a master’s degree, possibly at an HBCU (Historically Black College and University).
As the UWGB legend and now former NBA player looks back on his accomplishments, Sykes encourages young players to believe in themselves and learn as many skills as they can on and off the court. He believes athletes should play different sports when they are young, as he played football growing up. He encourages players to be team-oriented and listen to details from their coaches. Sykes said, “Be a leader but also be a great follower. Follow good examples, great examples. Don’t be afraid to be different. Don’t always try to be the cool person. That doesn’t last very long. Don’t be afraid to just be yourself. For me, it was a lot of hard work. Maximize your hours, be as productive as you can, and read books on things that can help you at different times in your life.”
