Dion Anthony Prewster (born 10 January 1990) is an American-born New Zealand professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the

Sandringham Sabres Sandringham Sabres is a NBL1 South club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Southern Basketball Association (SBA), the major administrative basketball organisatio ...

of the

NBL1 South NBL1 South is a NBL1 conference based in eastern states of Australia, South East Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2019, Basketball Victoria partnered with the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basket ...

. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for

San Jacinto College San Jacinto College is a public community college in the Greater Houston with its campuses in Pasadena and Houston, Texas. Established in 1961, San Jacinto College originally consisted of the independent school districts (ISD) of Channelview, De ...

and Stephen F. Austin State University.

Early life

Prewster was born in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the 13th-m ...

, to an African-American father and a Samoan mother. He was raised by his mother in

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internatio ...

and spent time in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

before moving to

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...

when he was seven.Basketball: Prewster's background no hurdle
/ref> He grew up in the suburb of JohnsonvilleDion Prewster's solid NBL season with Saints capped with Tall Blacks selection
/ref> and attended

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: * Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin *Wellington College, Wellington, New ...

, before moving to the United States for his senior year of high school. He enrolled at

Iowa City High School Iowa City High School is a public high school in Iowa City, Iowa and is part of the Iowa City Community School District. The present high school was completed as part of the Public Works Projects started by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to pro ...

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the tim ...

, where he led his team to the Class 4A state championship in 2007–08.Dion Prewster Bio
/ref>

College career

As a freshman at

in 2008–09, Prewster averaged 8.9 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game in helping the basketball team to a 25–5 record and the ETJCC South Division title. As a sophomore in 2009–10, he earned first-team All-ETJCC and All-Region XIV honors after averaging 14.3 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 blocks per game. On May 6, 2010, Prewster transferred to Stephen F. Austin State University. As a junior for SFA in 2010–11, he averaged 5.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 29 games with three starts. On April 20, 2011, Prewster transferred again, this time to

Truman State University Truman State University (TSU or Truman) is a public university in Kirksville, Missouri. It had 4,225 enrolled students in the fall of 2021 pursuing degrees in 52 undergraduate and 11 graduate programs. The university is named for U.S. Presid ...

Professional career

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

, Prewster debuted in the New Zealand NBL for the

Wellington Saints The Wellington Saints are a New Zealand basketball team based in Wellington. The Saints compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at TSB Bank Arena. Team history The Wellington Saints were founded in 1981. In 1 ...

.Player statistics for Dion Prewster – NZNBL
/ref> He was a member of the Saints' championship-winning team in his first year. For the 2011–12 season, Prewster decided against returning to the United States and instead signed with the

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Sky Sport Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at ...

of the Australian NBL. He appeared in 12 games for the Breakers in 2011–12, and in April 2012, he was a member of the Breakers' championship-winning squad. For the

2012 New Zealand NBL season The 2012 NBL season was the 31st season of the National Basketball League. While the Harbour Heat returned for the 2012 season, the Waikato Pistons dropped out of the league. It marked the first time the league had no Waikato presence since 1 ...

, Prewster joined the

Southland Sharks The Southland Sharks are a New Zealand basketball team based in Invercargill. The Sharks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Stadium Southland. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the SBS Bank So ...

. In 12 games, he averaged 8.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. The following year, he played for the

Hawke's Bay Hawks The Hawke's Bay Hawks are a New Zealand basketball team based in Napier. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Pettigrew Green Arena. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the Taylor Hawk ...

and averaged 13.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 steals in 16 games. He returned to the Wellington Saints in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

and averaged 8.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 20 games, while winning his second New Zealand NBL championship. With the Saints in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

, he averaged a career-high 14.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 20 games. On 24 August 2015, Prewster signed with the

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Kings were formed from a merger between the West Sydney Westars and the ...

for the

2015–16 NBL season The 2015–16 NBL season was the 38th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between 7 October 2015 and 14 February 2016, followed by a post-season featuri ...

. On 7 November 2015, he scored a season-high 12 points against the

Adelaide 36ers The Adelaide 36ers, also known as the Sixers, are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in th ...

. He appeared in 28 games for the Kings, averaging 3.4 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. Prewster returned to the Wellington Saints for a third season in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

. In the Saints' regular season finale on 29 May, Prewster scored 40 points in 21 minutes off the bench in a 120–72 win over the Hawke's Bay Hawks. He subsequently earned Player of the Week honors for Round 12. The Saints went on to win the championship, with Prewster winning his third title. Prewster returned to the Sydney Kings for the

2016–17 NBL season The 2016–17 NBL season was the 39th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between October 2016 and February 2017, followed by a pos ...

, and in 14 games averaged 1.1 points. For the

2017 New Zealand NBL season The 2017 NBL season was the 36th season of the National Basketball League. For the second year in a row, the league fielded seven teams. The regular season commenced on Thursday 16 March in Invercargill with the Southland Sharks hosting the Ne ...

, Prewster joined the Nelson Giants. In November 2017, Prewster signed with

Paderborn Baskets Paderborn Baskets 91 e.V., for sponsorship reasons named Uni Baskets Paderborn, is a basketball club based in Paderborn, Germany. The club currently plays in the ProA, the second highest basketball league in Germany. The club reached the Basketbal ...

of the German

ProA Proas are various types of multi-hull outrigger sailboats of the Austronesian peoples. The terms were used for native Austronesian ships in European records during the Colonial era indiscriminately, and thus can confusingly refer to the ...

. In 21 games, he averaged 7.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. In April 2018, Prewster joined the Hawke's Bay Hawks for the

2018 New Zealand NBL season The 2018 NBL season was the 37th season of the National Basketball League. In 2018, the league welcomed back the Manawatu Jets after a two-season hiatus. The regular season commenced on Thursday 26 April in Napier with the Hawke's Bay Hawks ...

. In October 2018, he re-signed with the Hawks for the 2019 season. In February 2020, Prewster signed with the Wellington Saints for the

2020 New Zealand NBL season The 2020 NBL season (officially known as the 2020 NBL Showdown) was the 39th season of the National Basketball League. The regular season was set to commence on Thursday 9 April and end on Sunday 12 July, with the finals then taking place betwe ...

, returning to the franchise for a third stint. However, the Saints withdrew from the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. In November 2020, he re-signed with the Saints for the 2021 season. For the season, he was named league MVP, Most Outstanding Guard, Most Outstanding NZ Guard,

Defensive Player of the Year Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY or DPOTY) is the name of an award given in sports for outstanding Defense (sports), defensive play by a single player over the course of a season. Many sports leagues award this type of award. League awards for D ...

and All-Star Five. The Saints' semi-final against the

Auckland Huskies The Auckland Tuatara are a semi-professional basketball team based in Auckland, New Zealand. The Tuatara compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Eventfinda Stadium. Founded in Tasmania in 2019 as the Sout ...

on 22 July 2021, Prewster recorded 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 99–73 win. On 20 July 2021, Prewster signed with

Melbourne United Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at John Cain Arena. The team made their debut in the NBL in 1984 a ...

for the

2021–22 NBL season The 2021–22 NBL season was the 44th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams are contesting in the 2021–22 season, which commenced on 3 December 2021. Australian broadcast rights to the ...

. In February 2022, Prewster signed with the

for the 2022

season.

National team career

Prewster captained the Junior Tall Blacks at the

2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship The 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Maori: 2009 FIBA I-Raro I Te 19 Tau Toa o Te Ao) was the 9th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship contested by the U19 national team ...

, where he averaged 10.4 points, 6.6. rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. In July 2015, Prewster earned his first Tall Blacks squad selection for their European tour,

Stanković Cup Stanković ( sr-cyr, Станковић, ) is a common surname derived from the South Slavic masculine given name Stanko. Stanković is the eighth most frequent surname in Serbia, and is also common in Croatia, with 2,842 carriers (2011 census) ...

campaign, and

2015 FIBA Oceania Championship The 2015 FIBA Oceania Championship for Men was the 22nd edition of the tournament. The tournament featured a two-game series between Australia and New Zealand. It also served as the qualifying tournament of FIBA Oceania for basketball at th ...

campaign. He made his FIBA Oceania Championship debut on 18 August in Game 2 of their two-game series loss to Australia, appearing in the final 29 seconds of the match. In February 2020, Prewster played for the Tall Blacks against Guam in the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.

Personal

Out the court, Prewster earned his degree in teaching.

References

External links

Dion Prewster
at fiba.com

at sfajacks.com
"Dion Prewster thriving on new NBL challenge with Nelson Giants"
at stuff.co.nz {{DEFAULTSORT:Prewster, Dion 1990 births Living people American men's basketball players American sportspeople of Samoan descent Hawke's Bay Hawks players Melbourne United players Nelson Giants players New Zealand men's basketball players New Zealand people of African-American descent New Zealand people of Samoan descent San Jacinto Central Ravens men's basketball players Shooting guards Small forwards Southland Sharks players Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks basketball players Sydney Kings players Wellington Saints players Iowa City High School alumni