SVENDBORG, Denmark — Minnesota State basketball player Kyreese Willingham collegiate career ended March 3 with the Mavericks’ loss to Minot State in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament semifinals.
His college playing days may be over, but Willingham is not done competing. The 6-foot-5 guard from Waseca signed a professional two-year contract with the Svendborg Rabbits in the Danish professional league on June 17. The team plays in the top division of basketball in Denmark. He reports on Aug. 16.
“I was excited to sign,” Willingham said. “Me and my agent had been talking to about 5, 6, 7 teams over in Europe, but this seemed like the best fit for me. I have a chance to go there and hone my skills and become a better player.”
Willingham played four seasons at MSU, finishing as the fourth all-time leading scorer with 1,725 points. In 124 career games, he finished seventh in steals (148), ninth in 3-pointers made (172) and tenth in blocked shots (102). He was part of the Mavericks’ 2024 NCAA Division II national championship team, hitting the winning 3-pointer as time ran out.
MSU head coach Matt Margenthaler doesn’t actively pursue landing spots for team members when their playing days are over. Instead, he tries to match the player up with an agent who can best fulfill his needs and they take it from there.
“They have to identify what regions they want to play in, what cultures best suit them, where they have a chance to flourish as a player,” Margenthaler said.
Willingham views Svendborg as a great organization which won the league’s regular-season title and then lost in the championship game of the playoffs this past season. Once he and his agent identified Svendborg as a good spot to play, Wllingham met with the team’s general manager and head coach via video call.
The call went well and Willingham signed soon after. He particularly liked the fact that the head coach was fluent in English.
Willingham took about a week off from basketball when the MSU season ended and then got back into it with weight training and workouts at the gym. He practiced with his trainer at both MSU and Bethany Lutheran College, wherever he could find available space.
The Waseca native earned a degree in applied leadership and a minor in marketing at MSU. For a brief time, he considered exploring those fields but realized that he wanted to keep playing basketball.
“My brother Malik played overseas in Georgia for a while and then came back where he’s trying to find another team,” Kyreese said. “He told me I should just go for it and I agree.
“I think it’s better to try it and fail than to not do it and wonder for the rest of your life if you could have made it. I just want to see how far I can go.”