Very few college basketball players have the luxury of playing in front of their parents. Junior guard Kyle Cassity is one of the lucky ones. The Cassity family lives in Tamaroa, Illinois, a small 800-person town located about 90 minutes away from Chaifetz Arena. Cassity’s mom, dad and grandma do the best they can to attend every Billiken home basketball game to support him.
Having family attend games was one of the many reasons that Cassity chose to come to Saint Louis University.
He was also considering scholarship offers from Evansville, Southern Illinois, Michigan and University of Missouri-Kansas City. Being close to home was a key factor for Cassity and his family; ultimately, head coach Rick Majerus was the deciding factor.
Like most of his teammates, Cassity is a student at the John Cook School of Business. He has a concentration in Marketing. He said that he liked what the marketing department had to offer after taking his Introduction to Marketing class.
On the court, Cassity has a number of personal goals for this season, one of which is to lead the team with his presence on the court. But most of all, he wants to win. The Billikens begin their 2010-2011 season on Nov. 12 against Austin Peay.
“I want to play every game as hard as I can. Being more assertive on the offensive end is something that I definitely need to do more,” Cassity said.
The transition for Cassity from freshman to sophomore year was a quick one. He went from starting four games his freshman year to playing a team high 1,166 minutes last year. Cassity credits this transformation to upperclassmen leaders.
Moving forward to his junior year, Cassity looks to continue his success, passing to his teammates and collecting more assists.
Last year, he led the team with 117 assist and will look to break that record this season. Cassity said Majerus would describe him as “a reluctant star, the guy on the team that does not like to be noticed on the court.”
The junior guard knows that this is his year to step up as a leader on and off the court and to continue to improve on the offensive side of the ball.
Scoring from beyond the arch has never been a problem for Cassity. Last season he ranked second on the team with 41 three-pointers.
The past two years, Cassity has been roommates with Billiken forward Brian Conklin.
“Brian and I have been through everything together as roommates. On the court, he does the little stuff for us that isn’t recorded in the books. He sets tough screens and is a great defender.”
Cassity also talked about sophomore forward, Cory Remekun. “Cory has changed physically since last season. He is much more physical in the paint now. He is a little banged up right now; he is playing through an injury but will come back strong for us.”
When asked where he sees himself in five years after graduation, Cassity said, “My dream job would be working here in St. Louis for the St. Louis Cardinals, and hopefully [settling] down.”
