Jason Preston (born August 10, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Ohio Bobcats.

High school career

Preston played basketball for William R. Boone High School in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

, averaging two points per game over two years. He stood about 6 ft (1.83 m) and weighed 140 lbs (64 kg) out of high school and applied to the University of Central Florida as a regular student, planning to major in journalism. After competing on the Amateur Athletic Union circuit, Preston chose to play basketball at a prep school, joining Believe Prep Academy in Athens, Tennessee. He grew four inches (10 cm) and gained experience as a

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

. Preston averaged 12 points, nine assists and seven rebounds per game, leading his team to a 31–8 record. He started out playing for the B team and was elevated to the A team after a series of strong performances, but began playing for the C team after receiving little playing time. Preston eventually managed to rejoin the A team. After posting his highlights to Twitter, Preston received college basketball offers from Ohio and Longwood, eventually committing to play for Ohio.

College career

As a freshman at Ohio, Preston averaged six points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, earning MAC All-Freshman Team honors. On November 13, 2019, he posted a sophomore season-high 27 points, 14 rebounds and five assists in an 81–72 win over

Iona Iona (; gd, Ì Chaluim Chille (IPA: �iːˈxaɫ̪ɯimˈçiʎə, sometimes simply ''Ì''; sco, Iona) is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there ...

. On January 21, 2020, Preston recorded 27 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in an 83–74 loss to

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Orur ...

. On February 8, he scored 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, becoming the second player in program history to register a triple-double, in a 77–46 win over Miami (Ohio). As a sophomore, Preston averaged 16.8 points, 7.4 assists and 6.4 rebounds per game and was a Second Team All-MAC selection. He led the MAC and ranked second in the nation in assists. On November 27, 2020, Preston recorded a career-high 31 points, eight assists and six rebounds in a 77–75 loss to eighth-ranked Illinois. His story drew national attention following the performance. On January 23, 2021, he posted his second triple-double, with 11 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in an 85–77 win against

Ball State Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, industrialists and founders of the Ball C ...

. Preston was named

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the MAC tournament after leading Ohio to the title. On March 20, in the first round of the NCAA tournament, he helped the 13th-seeded Bobcats to a 62–58 upset victory over fourth-seeded Virginia, recording 11 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists. As a junior, Preston averaged 15.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game, earning First Team All-MAC honors. On April 26, 2021, he declared for the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham. The NBA us ...

while maintaining his college eligibility. He later decided to remain in the draft.

Professional career

Preston was selected with the 33rd overall pick in the

by the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

and was then traded to the Los Angeles Clippers. On August 9, 2021, Preston signed a three-year rookie scale contract with the Clippers. On October 7, 2021, he underwent surgery after suffering an injury on his right foot during the preseason of his rookie campaign. Preston missed the entire 2021–22 season after undergoing surgery.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Ohio , 30 , , 21 , , 29.5 , , .434 , , .208 , , .765 , , 3.6 , , 3.4 , , .8 , , .1 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;", Ohio , 32 , , 32 , , 38.1 , , .515 , , .407 , , .725 , , 6.4 , , 7.4 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , 16.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;", Ohio , 20 , , 20 , , 34.6 , , .514 , , .390 , , .596 , , 7.3 , , 7.3 , , 1.5 , , .3 , , 15.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 82 , , 73 , , 34.1 , , .498 , , .357 , , .703 , , 5.6 , , 5.9 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , 12.6

Personal life

Preston is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. Preston's mother, Judith Sewell, died of lung cancer when Preston was a junior in high school. His father was absent from his life. After his mother's death, Preston's aunt and uncle, who were living in Jamaica, became his

legal guardian A legal guardian is a person who has been appointed by a court or otherwise has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty) to make decisions relevant to the personal and property interests of another person who is deemed incompetent, call ...

s, though he remained in the United States and lived with the son of his mother's friend. He grew up watching the Detroit Pistons and has written about the team for online publications.

References

External links

*
Ohio Bobcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Preston, Jason 1999 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Orlando, Florida Los Angeles Clippers players Ohio Bobcats men's basketball players Orlando Magic draft picks Point guards