Clifton Reece Gaines (born January 7, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player and former assistant coach at Austin Spurs. He is currently a video coordinator for Louisville.
Gaines, a 6'6", 205 lb (1.98 m, 93 kg) shooting guard, played high school basketball at Madison West in his hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. He then played four years at University of Louisville, earning AP All-America 3rd team honors his senior season while leading the Cardinals to a 25–7 win–loss record. He's considered one of the best all-time shooting guards for the Louisville Cardinal basketball program. He ranks among the top-five Louisville leaders in made three-point field goals (225), free throws (456), and assists (475).[1][2] Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat once called Reece Gaines "the best college basketball player he ever faced".[3][4]
Gaines was drafted by the Orlando Magic in the first round (15th overall) of the 2003 NBA draft and signed with the club on July 18, 2003. He spent one season on the bench in Orlando (1.8 points, 1.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists in 38 games) before being traded to the Houston Rockets (along with Tracy McGrady, Juwan Howard and Tyronn Lue) in exchange for Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato.[5]
Gaines played ten games with the Rockets (2.6 points, 1.1 rebounds, 0.3 assists per game), spending the majority of his time on the injured list. He was traded again on February 24, 2005 (with two future second-round picks) to the Milwaukee Bucks for Mike James and Zendon Hamilton.[6] Gaines saw even less playing time with the Bucks during the second half of the 2004–05 season, playing a total of 79 minutes (1.4 points, 0.3 rebounds, 0.4 assists) in 11 games. Gaines's playing time decreased even more with the Bucks in the 2005–06 season, appearing in 12 games, and playing 52 minutes (1.1 points, no rebounds, 0.3 assists).
Gaines' final NBA game was played on February 12, 2006, in a 79 - 94 loss to the New Jersey Nets where he recorded 2 assists and 1 steal.
In 2006, he moved to Italy where he played for Angelico Biella, Armani Jeans Milano and Benetton Treviso. In 2009, he joined the Bakersfield Jam, with whom he averaged 14.3 points and 4.0 assists per game. In December 2010 he signed with JA Vichy in France.[7] In January 2012 Gaines signed a 30-day contract with the Fürstenfeld Panthers in Austria.[8] On February 2, 2012, the Panthers announced that the contract with Gaines would not be extended.[9]
In 2012, Gaines was hired as an assistant coach at Bellarmine University, where he coached for three seasons.[10] While at Bellarmine, he helped the Knights to three straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 and a Final Four trip.
In 2015, Gaines became an assistant coach at Eastern Kentucky University.[11] In 2018, Gaines was named acting coach after Head Coach Dan McHale's contract was terminated.[12]
On November 5, 2019, the Austin Spurs announced that they had named Gaines as assistant coach.[13]