Kelvin Torbert

Kelvin Deion Torbert Sr. (born May 24, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player.

High school career Torbert was born in Flint, Michigan to Climmie Torbert and Florine Green. His mother died of breast cancer when Torbert was 5 years old; his father, an Opelika, Alabama native, was employed at General Motors and also had developed health issues, specifically to his kidneys; he died in 2005.

After attending Holmes Middle School, Torbert enrolled at Northwestern High School in Flint in 1997 and during his 4-year career he became the best player of the varsity team, gaining state recognition starting from his sophomore year. Torbert became a starter for the team in his freshman year, and averaged 15.5 points per game; he improved to 18 points in his sophomore year. He started to be nationally ranked during his junior year in 2000, and he was selected in the Parade All-American Third Team after averaging 25.1 points, 10.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game.

His senior year at Northwestern was very successful. He was ranked among the top 5 players in the nation by the major recruiting services, and he was considered the top shooting guard of the class of 2001. He averaged 26 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals in his final year of high school basketball, ending his career with 1,978 points, that placed him second in Flint city history behind Charlie Bell. His convincing performance at Northwestern earned him many awards and All-American selections: he was named the Gatorade National Basketball Player of the Year, Sporting News Player of the Year and Mr. Basketball of Michigan, he was part of the USA Today All-America First team, and he was selected as a First team Parade All-American and as a McDonald's All-American.

College career Torbert was recruited since his junior year in high school, and received interest from Cincinnati, Connecticut, Michigan and Michigan State. He chose not to declare his eligibility for the 2001 NBA draft despite several of the top ranked players of the 2001 class doing so. Under coach Tom Izzo, Torbert was immediately considered a starter, and he started 26 of the 31 games played in his freshman season. He was given significant playing time, averaging 25.1 minutes, and ended the season with averages of 8.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists. He started his first game at MSU on November 12, 2001, against Detroit and recorded a then career-high 18 points on January 16, 2002, against Purdue. He was named the Best Defensive Player of his team together with Alan Anderson. and during the season-opening game against UNC Asheville on November 22 he did not start. and his percentages increased significantly: he shot 53% from the field and 48% from 3-point range on 2.1 attempts per game, and his scoring average reached a career high of 10.7 points per game. He ranked in the top ten of the Big Ten Conference in all the shooting categories, and he led the conference in 3-point field goal percentage. His performance during his junior year earned him All-Big 10 honors: he was selected as an Honorable Mention by the coaches and in the Third team by the media. He started 26 out of 30 games, and recorded a season-best 21 points against Coppin State on December 30, 2003; he was also second on the team in rebounding average, and third in assists. At the end of the season he received the team Most Improved Player award, and his third consecutive Best Defensive Player award, sharing it with Maurice Ager. He then signed for French team JL Bourg, where he played 34 games, averaging 12.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists during the LNB Pro A regular season. His team also participated in the playoffs, where they were defeated by Le Mans Sarthe in 3 games: Torbert averaged 7.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in the series. For the 2006–07 season he signed for Belgian club Euphony Bree, where he had a successful stint: he scored 15.9 points per game, and contributed to bring his team to the playoffs, where he played 7 games and averaged a career-high 21.3 points.

After that he went back to France, this time signing for Paris-Levallois, but he had limited playing time and despite appearing in 30 regular season games, he only averaged 7.0 points. After the 2007–08 season he transferred in Belgium again, joining Mons-Hainaut where he played 2 seasons. He then played in Greece for Iraklis, but ended the season in Russia, playing 31 games in the second level for Ural Yekaterinburg scoring 12.5 points per game. After a brief stint in Mexico, where he played 3 games with Toros de Nuevo Laredo, he again signed with a Belgian team, Okapi Aalstar, but he only played 2 games there.

Torbert then moved to Germany: after a 1-month trial at BBC Bayreuth, after which he was released, he signed with Ratiopharm Ulm where he had 4 appearances, averaging 4 points per game.

Personal life He has a son named Kelvin Jr., who is currently committed to Bowling Green University & was the winner of the 2026 Mr. Basketball of Michigan.