Jason Preston (born August 10, 1999) is an American 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

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). 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 the

Ohio Bobcats The Ohio Bobcats are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio University, located in Athens, Ohio, United States. Ohio University is a charter member (1946) of the Mid-Amer ...

. After three seasons at Ohio University, Preston was drafted 33rd overall 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 ...

in 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 ...

and was traded to the Clippers. He missed his entire rookie season after undergoing surgery to address an injury in his right foot.

High school career

Preston played basketball for

William R. Boone High School William Rennick Boone High School is a public high school in Orlando, Florida. Built in 1952, the school is one of twenty high schools in the Orange County Public Schools system, created to accommodate the growing number of students at Orlando H ...

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 The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

as a regular student, planning to major in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

. After competing on the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

circuit, Preston chose to play basketball at a prep school, joining Believe Prep Academy in

Athens, Tennessee Athens is the county seat of McMinn County, Tennessee, United States and the principal city of the Athens Micropolitan Statistical Area has a population of 53,569. The city is located almost equidistantly between the major cities of Knoxville an ...

. 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 Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, Preston received college basketball offers from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and Longwood, eventually committing to play for Ohio.

College career

As a freshman at Ohio University, 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 Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. 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 University 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 Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, 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

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

Professional career

Los Angeles Clippers (2021–present)

Preston was selected with the 33rd overall pick in the

by his hometown team the

and was then traded to the

. 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. Preston made his NBA debut on October 23, 2022, playing three minutes in a 112–95 loss to the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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L.A. Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

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Playoffs

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College

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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 Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

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 Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, 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 The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

and has written about the team for online publications. In April 2023, he was featured as the subject of an

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

commercial that chronicled some unfortunate events in his early life. He had produced a highlight video that helped earn him a Division I scholarship with Ohio and an eventual pro career. He was drafted by the Clippers in the 2nd round.

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 Ontario Clippers players Orlando Magic draft picks Point guards