The Bearcats Blog Top 30 Countdown: #11 Kenny Satterfield

In an odd twist of fate, the player who wore number 11 is number 11 on the Bearcats Blog countdown. I didn't plan for Kenny Satterfield to be number 11. That was all Kenny's, or whoever passes out the Bearcat uniforms, choice. Satterfield is kind of an odd player in UC history. When people love him, they really love him. When they hate him, they really hate him. I don't exactly know why. He was one of the driving forces that carried UC past the second round for the first time in seemingly forever. He was the point guard on the rare Bearcat team that met postseason expectations. But, he played in the era when people went pro and others were upset about it. I'm sure Kenny could have stayed another season. But if he did, would Steve Logan have had the same senior season? Maybe. Probably because Steve Logan was a great player who had a great season with Satterfield. I don't know how much better Satterfield could have made that team though. He would have helped against UCLA. I think some people hold it against Satterfield that he missed the game tying shot against Xavier. That's getting way ahead of ourselves. 

#11

Kenny Satterfield

 
Resume

Kenny Satterfield came to UC as part of one of the greatest classes in Cincinnati history. Satterfield joined DerMarr Johnson as McDonald's All Americans and as Bearcats. Leonard Stokes was a member of that recruiting class. The other person was the immortal BJ Grove. They were a dynamic class joining the best team in the nation. Expectations were high for the players and they were even higher for the team. 

With Steve Logan in the starting backcourt with Johnson, Kenny Satterfield started 14 games his freshman season. He played nearly 30 minutes a game, so it wasn't that big a deal. Satterfield made an impact his first game. He dropped 3 threes and made 5-6 at the line for 14 points. He added 4 rebounds and 3 assists. He followed that was 6-6-9 assists. Satterfield had his first career double double against Santa Clara. He scored 11 points on 4-4, and had 10 assists. Satterfield had 9-4-3 against Iowa State and 6-3-6-2 steals against Gonzaga. Kenny didn't score in a highly anticipated game against UNC, but he broke out with 7 assists and 5 rebounds. Kenny picked his spots scoring wise. He torched Mississippi Valley St for 16 on 5-11. He took 6 shots against St Louis for 7 points with 7 assists and 2 steals in the conference opener. Top ranked Cincinnati was beaten in the Crosstown Shootout by Xavier 66-64, but it was no fault of Satterfield's. He scored 8 on 3-4, had 5 assists and 2 steals. He did have 4 turnovers.

Satterfield turned the ball over a lot. He had 5 against North Carolina. He had games of 5, 7, 7, 4, 6, 4, and 6. He turned the ball over at least 3 times in 12 of the last 13 games of the season. Cincinnati only lost 3 of those games in that stretch. Kenny turned the ball over 108 times, 3.3 turnovers a game. He turned it over on a whopping 29% of Cincinnati possessions. When you look at that great Bearcat team and see Satterfield used 22.6% of possessions, your eyes bug out. When you notice he only shot 18.1% of the time, Bob Huggins tells Chuck Machock "Well Chuck, we just got to protect the ball," in a monotone voice. 

The Bearcats played Oklahoma following the Shootout. He scored 16 points on 6-10 with 5 rebounds and 5 assists. He scored 11 on 5-7 with 6 boards the following game. Satterfield scored 10 points on 4-6 with 5 assists and 2 steals to cap a 3 game double digit scoring streak. Kenny scored 9 with 7 assists against UNLV. He put up 7 assists the following game against Charlottoe, but only shot 2-8. He made just 2 field goals a 3rd straight game against Marquette, adding 4 FTs for an 8 point, 6 board, 3 assist performance. Satterfield made 1 FG the next two games. He had 3-5-2-2 steals against Tulane. The next 1 FG game saw Kenny score 10 points, 1 three, 7 FTs, to go with 6 assists in a win over Ohio. That was the only game of the season he didn't turn the ball over. Satterfield had had 7-4 assists (7 turnovers!!!) against USF in a win. He scored 13 on 4-8, 5-7 FTs, with 5 assists against Charlotte. He had 8 assists, 5 boards and 4 points in a win over UAB. 

DePaul bringing out the best of people is something that happens these days more than the early 2000s. Kenny Satterfield gave them a preview of what was to come one February night. He made 10 of his 12 field goals to score 23 points, with 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. It was the first 20 point game for Satterfield. It was followed with 6-3-4 against Houston. Satt had a good game against Temple, 10 points, 6 boards, 5 assists, but UC lost for the first time since the Shootout. He had a 9-5-7-2 steal game against Southern Miss, 6-6 assists agaisnt Louisville and 7-9-4-2 steals in the DePaul game, aka the Kenyon game. Kenny had 8 and 6 assists in the regular season finale. 

We all know what happened against St Louis in the conference tournament. Kenny did the best he could to lead the shell shocked Cats to victory. He scored 16 points on 5-11, 3-4 from 3. It wasn't enough. Satterfield carried the Bearcats in the NCAA tournament opener with 12 points on 5-9, 8 assists and 2 steals. He didn't shoot the ball very well against Tulsa, 2-10, but made 5-6 FTs for 10 points. He had 7 rebounds and 5 assists in the loss.  
Freshman season Satterfield was 104-242, 43%, from the field. He hit 17-57 from 3, 30%. He was a good foul shooter. He hit 79 of 103, 77%. That was a total of 304 points. Kenny had 178 assists, 113 rebounds, 38 steals and 4 blocks. His stat line was 9.2 points, 5.4 assists, 3.4 rebounds. 1.15 steals. That great line got him named to the Conference USA All-Freshman team. 

Kenny declared for the NBA draft following the season. He thought better of it and returned to Cincinnati for his sophomore season. 

Kenny Satterfield and Steve Logan were expected to be the leaders of the 2001 Bearcats. What with Kenyon Martin, Pete Mickeal and DerMarr Johnson all gone, BJ Grove wasn't going to accept the role. Kenny showed what he was capable of in the season opener. He carried UC to a 73-61 win over Boise State by scoring 27 points on 10-18, with 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. He was not sharp against Marshall, 4-18, 12 points, but had 7 assists and 2 more steals. Satterfield had a solid 17-7-6 line in the first Bearcat loss of the season to Notre Dame. Satterfield had a better line against Dayton. He scored 20 points on 6-13, with 8 FTs, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block. He filled every line in the box score. Kenny had another fantastic game with 16-7-8-3 steals. He shot 7-15 to boot. 

Satterfield had a very solid game against Xavier in the Shootout. He had 26 points on 8-18, hit 7-10 from the foul line, had 4 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 block and 2 turnovers. But, with UC down 2, he front rimmed a runner in the closing seconds. Kenny scored 18, the margin of victory against UNLV, with 8 boards and 6 assists the following game. He had just 8-4-4 against Youngstown St. But he bounced back with 22-5-8-4 steals against Clemson.  Satterfield scored 23 on 7-15, 7-10 FTs, as UC beat Alabama in overtime. Kenny hit 7 free throws in both of those 20 point games. He was very hard to keep off the line. Satterfield shot poorly in a closer than expected game with UNC Wilmington, 4-13 for 10 points, but had 7 boards. UC lost to Toledo with Satterfield going 1-7 for 4 points.

C-USA play kicked off the following game. Satterfield upped his play. He scored 18 on an efficient 6-9, 4-4 from 3, with 5 boards to beat Charlotte. He had 12 on 3-9, 6-8 FTs, as UC lost to Marquette 47-44. Kenny had 15, at the expense of 4-13 shooting, 5 boards, 4 assists in a win over Louisville. The rough shooting continued, 4-10, 9 points, but Satterfield had 9 assists in that UC win. He had 3 assists to go with a 3-15 games, 9 points, in a loss to St Louis. He was 1-6 for 2 points in the Louisville rematch, another loss. Satterfield got back to his all around play during a non-conference game against Wake Forest. He scored 14 points, using 6 FTs, with 6 rebounds and 8 assists in a huge win.

Kenny Satterfield only played 24 minutes against Tulane. The immortal Antwan Jones played nearly as many minutes as him in that one. What Kenny Satterfield accomplished in those 24 minutes was Bearcat history. He scored 12 points, 3-4 from the field, 6-7 at the free throw line. He pulled in 11 defensive rebounds. He dished out 10 assists. He had 4 steals. For the 14th time in Cincinnati history, a player posted a triple double. It was the first time since 1967 it had been a triple double in points, rebounds and assists. Satterfield was just the 4th Bearcat to post a triple double, joining Oscar Robertson, Rick Roberson and Kenyon Martin. 

There was a triple double hangover for Satterfield. He posted 2-3-3 in a 2 point loss to Charlotte. Kenny used DePaul to bounce back, scoring 10 with 4 boards and 6 assists in a blowout win. He had 16 on 6-12, 5 boards against Southern Miss. Satterfield had 11-5 against Memphis. He had 6 points until the final minute. With UC down 2, he pulled up and got a friendly bounce on a long 3. When Memphis took the lead, Satterfield hit a pull up floater, almost the same shot in the same spot he missed against Xavier, to give UC the 66-65 win. 

 

Satterfield could not make a game winner against Marquette in an overtime loss. He scored 15, but on 5-16 shooting. He took only 7 shots against St Louis, but the Billikens couldn't keep him off the foul line. Satterfield hit 9-14 FTs to power his 17 point performance. He added 4 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals. Kenny put up 12-7 assists against Houston, but scored 3 on 1-7, 4 boards, 4 steals, against USF. Luckily DePaul rolled back around. Satterfield scored 17, 3-5 from 3, 6 FTs, with 4 boards and 7 assists against his punching bags. He carried UC to a 73-70 win over UAB with 17 points on 7-15 shooting and 5 assists. The next day in the C-USA tourney, Kenny had 24 on 7-11, 9-9 FTs, 5 boards and 5 assists to beat Memphis. He scored 18, but on 6-19 shooting, 2-10 from 3, 4 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, in a loss to Charlotte. 

Kenny had a strong NCAA tournament. He scored 14 points with 7 rebounds in the UC blowout win over BYU. Satterfield scored 10 points on 5-15 shooting against Kent State, but he had 4 boards, 7 assists and 2 steals to lead the Bearcats to a 23 point win and a Sweet 16 birth. The Bearcats met top seed Stanford. The Cardinal couldn't keep Kenny off the foul line, 9-10, but Kenny had an inconsistent shooting game, 7-16, for his 24 points. He had 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals in the game. One of the assists was an alley oop to Immanuel McElroy that gave UC a lead. I told that story before, but I loved that play so much. 

The final season numbers for Kenny Satterfield were 163 of 421 field goals for 39%. He was 48-144, 33% from 3. He was a great 130-165, 79%, free throw shooter. He scored 504 points. Kenny dished out 177 assists, pulled in 165 rebounds, had 60 steals and blocked 6 shots. He cut his turnover rate by 8%. The number of turnovers was about the same, but he dominated the ball and played more minutes, so he didn't turn it over as much. The final stats for Kenny Satterfield were 14.4 points, 5.1 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.7 steals. He was slighted into a 3rd team All-Conference USA selection.

Since he declared for the NBA after his freshman season and came back, when Satterfield declared after the season he was gone for good. 

 
Why He Made the List

Kenny Satterfield may have just been a 2 year player, but he was a great two year player. He averaged 12 points, 5.2 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals a game. He wasn't the greatest shooter in the world, but he hit 40% from the field, 32% from 3 and 78% at the foul line. He was a lot better than people give him credit for these days. I'm not saying we should put Satterfield in the UC Hall of Fame, but he deserves more credit for how great he was. 

What He's Doing Now

After being drafted in the second round of the NBA draft in 2001, Kenny played 2 years in the NBA. He bounced around various leagues and played in Japan last season. I think he's playing there this year, I don't know. If you follow him on twitter, you know he hated his coach. Speaking of that, you can ask Kenny what he's doing yourself. He's @KSatt11.