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It has been long, hard and somewhat strange.

Six years, six coaches, four schools, plenty of attention-grabbing moments ... and several big injuries. Yet, to hear Kriisa tell the story, it has also been rewarding.

“Every coach that you play under, or every school, life teaches you different lessons,� Kriisa, now at Cincinnati, said in Kansas City during Big 12 Media Days last October. “I don't like to compare them, because every stop has shown something that you didn't know.

“I'm just very thankful that I've had a chance to be at four different schools. People look at it like ‘Ah, he's a team hopper,' all that stuff. But I look at a different way — that I had a chance to do that and my story is different than everybody else's story.�

This is a story that begins with Kriisa literally putting himself in a position to get hurt.

After the NCAA made him sit out the first 17 games of Arizona’s 2020-21 season because of a deal he had agreed to with a pro club in Lithuania — a now-unlikely penalty that also speaks to how long Kriisa has been playing the college game — Kriisa enthusiastically debuted during Arizona's mountain swing in February 2021.

Wearing the first name on the back of his jersey to match the one that hangs in the McKale rafters — his father was a fan of former Chicago Bulls guard Steve Kerr, who starred at Arizona — Kriisa played briefly at Utah and then was given 12 minutes at Colorado. 

Before masked parents, staffers, media and thousands of empty gold seats in Boulder, Kriisa at one point hopped directly in front of fast-breaking Buffaloes guard McKinley Wright to take a charge.

“You can see he has a spirit to him,� then-UA coach Sean Miller said after that game, before starting him in the next. “I thought he made a big difference.�

Miller was fired a month after that weird 2020-21 season ended, but UA fans could see that same spirit for two more seasons under Tommy Lloyd, who re-recruited Kriisa in April 2021 by telling him, “I’m the most European-American coach in the game — and if you’re gonna walk away from this, you’re gonna regret it.�

Lloyd started Kriisa for nearly all of the two seasons he had him. While the UA coach held out Kriisa for a game against Utah in 2021-22 after saying his horseplay during a pregame meal led to an injury, Kriisa helped the Wildcats win the Pac-12 regular-season title that season before a high ankle sprain kept him out of two Pac-12 Tournament games and the Wildcats’ first NCAA Tournament game.

“I was scared that it's over because I’ve never had that bad of a sprain,� Kriisa said before the 2022 NCAA Tournament began. “I felt like my leg was a completely different direction and I was scared to look down.�

But Kriisa worked furiously with UA athletic trainer Justin Kokoskie to compress what is often a month-long rehab process into 10 days, and he came back in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to help the Wildcats hold off TCU in overtime at San Diego.

Also known for a penchant to get under the skin of opponents — and their fans — Kriisa exited the arena while mockingly flashing the Horned Frogs' hand sign at TCU fans.

The next season, banged up in another Pac-12 Tournament game against Stanford, the right-handed Kriisa missed a free throw with his aching right shoulder, so decided to go with the left hand on his second attempt... and the ball went in.

“Maybe he was being a little dramatic and just wanted to prove he can shoot left-handed free throws,� Lloyd said afterward. “That was a little crazy, but he’s that kind of kid. Pretty cool moment.�

It was the only point Kriisa scored in that game and, combined with center Oumar Ballo’s broken hand, the still-healing injuries left Arizona vulnerable in a first-round NCAA Tournament upset loss to Princeton a week later.

Kriisa left Arizona later that spring, but nearly three years later, Lloyd expressed gratefulness.

“Kerr Kriisa was a really valuable member to our team for two years,� Lloyd said after Arizona beat UCF on Saturday. “We won a lot of games with Kerr, had a lot of success. I loved coaching him. He really helped us kind of kick-start the next era of Arizona basketball. So I'll always be thankful for him.�

Soon after deciding to leave the Wildcats, Kriisa found adversity hit in a completely different way.

About two months after agreeing to play for Bob Huggins at West Virginia, Huggins was arrested for DUI and eventually resigned under pressure. That left Kriisa to play for interim Mountaineers coach Josh Eilert during the 2023-24 season -- after he sat out the first nine games because of benefits he accepted while at Arizona.

Kriisa averaged 33.4 minutes for the Mountaineers that season and the highest scoring average of his career, 11.0 points, but moved on again in the spring of 2024.

This time it was Kentucky. But Kriisa only lasted nine games with those Wildcats before breaking his foot against Gonzaga. Characteristically, before he left the floor, Kriisa hobbled downcourt in an attempt to guard two Gonzaga players despite the pain.

“He’s got this incredible commitment,� Kentucky coach Mark Pope said early that season, according to On3. He has “an incredible consistent determination that is beautiful, too. He’s got both of those vibes going on in a really special package.�

Eventually, Kriisa said, he gained from the Kentucky experience. 

“It brought more hunger to me,� he said last October. “I got a little break from basketball, and it was hard to be without basketball. When you're without it, it brings the hunger and you just want to get back out there.�

Kriisa decided to do just that with Cincinnati this season.

Cincinnati declined the Star's request for an interview with Kriisa earlier this week, saying he was focused on rehabilitation, but Kriisa expressed gratefulness in October to teammates he knew from Big 12 competition and to Bearcats conditioning coach Mike Rehfeldt, who encouraged Kriisa to text photos of whatever he was eating as his rehabilitation continued.

“I lost 9% body fat in like three months. It’s insane,� Kriisa said. “I was looking at the photos when I came to Cincy in May after the injury and I was fat — in my face, you know, everywhere.�

As a sixth-year player this season, Kriisa started the Bearcats’ first 12 games and then moved to the bench against Lipscomb on Dec. 29 before separating his shoulder in Cincinnati’s Big 12 opener against Houston on Jan. 3.

Kriisa hasn't played since then, though Bearcat Journal’s Keegan Nicholson posted on Jan. 14 that Cincinnati play-by-play broadcaster Dan Hoard said Kriisa told him he believed he would play against Arizona. (Cincinnati's official player availability report was not yet available at the Star's press time).

But no matter how many games Kriisa winds up playing for the Bearcats this season, his college career may not be ending yet. Not during a current climate in which athletes often successfully challenge and/or sue the NCAA for extra years of eligibility.

Asked during Big 12 Media Days about what sort of loophole he might look into for a seventh season of eligibility, Kriisa briefly mentioned that initial suspension issue at Arizona.

“I don’t want to get into it. It’s something with my freshman year, I think,� Kriisa said. “But I’m not too sure about it.�

So who knows? Kriisa just might get another shot at playing in McKale next season, with Cincinnati or maybe somebody else.

But whatever happens, Kriisa will likely return to town again someday. Even if he’s not still playing college basketball.

“Tucson is gonna be home forever,� Kriisa said in Kansas City. “I had three great years there. I love Tucson.�