Daniel Kickert

Early career

After graduating from Aquinas College in the Melbourne suburb of Ringwood, Kickert moved to Canberra where he attended the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). As a scholarship holder in 2001 and 2002, he played for the AIS in the South East Australian Basketball League. During the 2002 SEABL season, he averaged 18 points and seven rebounds in 30 minutes per game as he was named to the All-SEABL Eastern Conference team.

College career

In his freshman season at Saint Mary's in 2002–03, Kickert earned All-Freshman team honours by CollegeInsider.com. He finished the season as the only Gael to start all 30 games, tied for 11th in the conference in scoring and had the third-best field goal percentage (52.0%) in the conference. In those 30 games, he averaged 12.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.

In his sophomore season, Kickert was named to the All-West Coast Conference first team and earned the Shamrock Office Solutions Classic Most Valuable Player award. He was also named to the Top of the World Classic All-Tournament team. In 31 games (all starts), he averaged 14.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.

In his junior season, Kickert was named to the All-West Coast Conference first team for the second straight year. He was also named to the USBWA All-District 9 first team and the NABC District 14 second team, while earning WCC Player of the Year honours by CollegeInsider.com. In addition, he was named to the WCC All-Tournament team after averaging 22.0 points and 4.5 rebounds against Santa Clara and Gonzaga. In 34 games (all starts), he averaged 16.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.

In his senior season, Kickert was named to the All-West Coast Conference first team for the third straight year and earned the Shamrock Office Solutions Classic Most Valuable Player award for the second time in his career. In 28 games (all starts), he averaged 16.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game. He finished his career ranked first in the SMC record books with 1,868 points.

Early years (2006–2008)

Kickert went undrafted in the 2006 NBA draft. On 30 August 2006, he signed with Basket Livorno of Italy for the 2006–07 season.

In the summer of 2007, Kickert signed with CB Breogán of Spain for the 2007–08 season.

Gran Canaria (2008–2010)

In June 2008, Kickert signed with Gran Canaria of the Liga ACB. On 6 July 2010, he parted ways with Gran Canaria after two seasons.

Turów Zgorzelec (2011–2012)

On 2 February 2011, Kickert joined Turów Zgorzelec of Poland for a three-day trial period. Following the trial period, he signed with the club for the rest of the 2010–11 season.

On 25 July 2011, Kickert re-signed with Turów Zgorzelec for the 2011–12 season.

Ukraine (2012–2014)

In August 2012, Kickert signed with BC Dnipro of the Ukraine for the 2012–13 season. In March 2013, he left Dnipro and signed with BC Budivelnyk for the rest of the season.

On 12 July 2013, Kickert signed with BC Azovmash for the 2013–14 season. On 3 March 2014, he parted ways with Azovmash due to the Ukraine's military conflict with Russia.

Iberostar Tenerife (2014)

On 21 March 2014, Kickert signed with Iberostar Tenerife of Spain for the rest of the 2013–14 season.

Melbourne United (2014–2016)

On 13 August 2014, Kickert signed with Melbourne United for the 2014–15 NBL season. In 28 games for Melbourne, he averaged 13.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.

On 10 June 2015, Kickert re-signed with United for the 2015–16 season. He came very close to becoming the first NBL player ever to join the exclusive 50–40–90 club following a great season in 2015–16. Kickert did reach the required splits, finishing the season with superb figures of 52.5/47.2/90.5. However, he fell four made free throws short of the minimum requirements. On 17 February 2016, he was named to the All-NBL first team. Kickert helped lead United to the minor premiership after finishing the regular season in first place on the ladder with an 18–10 win/loss record. However, in their semi-final series against the fourth-seeded New Zealand Breakers, United were swept 2–0 to bow out of the playoffs. He appeared in 28 games for United in 2015–16, averaging 14.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.

Brisbane Bullets (2016–present)

On 8 April 2016, Kickert signed with the Brisbane Bullets for the 2016–17 NBL season. In his first season with the Bullets, Kickert became the first player in NBL history to join the exclusive 50–40–90 club. Kickert played in all 28 of Brisbane's games in 2016–17, averaged 12.8 points per game and shot 54.4 percent from the field, 45.9 percent from three and 95.0 percent from the line.

On 2 June 2017, Kickert signed with the South West Metro Pirates of the Queensland Basketball League. He later competed at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup before re-joining the Bullets for the 2017–18 NBL season.

National team career

Kickert competed for the Australian Boomers at the 2006 Stanković Continental Champions' Cup, 2006 FIBA World Championship, 2011 London Invitational Tournament, and 2017 FIBA Asia Cup.

Personal

Kickert is the son of Rudy and Jenny Kickert, and is married to Erica Marie.