May 17, 2006

FARMVILLE, Va. -- Former Longwood University men’s basketball All-American Jerome Kersey, also a 17-year NBA veteran, received his college diploma May 13; 22 years after leaving Longwood (1980-84) for his professional basketball career. A two-time All-American for the Lancers (1983-84), he played 11 years with the Portland Trail Blazers but did win an NBA Championship with the San Antonio Spurs (1999). A native of Clarksville, Jerome now lives in Happy Valley, Oregon and was awarded a bachelor of science degree in social work after completing two courses on-line during this recent spring semester.

Kersey was a two-time National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II All-American (1984, 1st-Team; 1983, 3rd-Team) at Longwood. A 1984 NBA Draft Second-Round selection (46th overall) of Portland, he was the 1984 Virginia College Division Player of Year. Kersey received an invitation to the 1984 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (PIT) NBA pre-draft camp, and earned PIT All-Tournament Team honors. He still holds 10 school-records, including career rebounds (1,162), and scored 1,756 career points to rank second all-time at Longwood. Kersey served as an assistant coach with the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks during 2004-05, and also played professionally for Golden State, Los Angeles (Lakers), Seattle, and Milwaukee.

Jerome was also inducted into the inaugural Longwood University Athletics Hall of Fame Class this past November 27, 2005.