Keanu Pinder (born 28 May 1995) is an Australian professional
basketball player for the
Cairns Taipans of the
National Basketball League (NBL).
Early life
Pinder was born in
Derby, Western Australia to an
Indigenous Australian mother from the
Kimberley region
The Kimberley is the northernmost of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy and Tanami deserts in the region of the Pilbara, an ...
and a Bahamian father. He grew up in
Perth where his father,
Kendal
Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, south-east of Windermere and north of Lancaster. Historically in Westmorland, it lies within the dale of th ...
, played professionally for the
Perth Wildcats in the
National Basketball League. Pinder played both
basketball and
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
until his teenage years when he decided to focus on basketball solely. He attended
Chisholm Catholic College in Perth before transferring to Sunrise Christian Academy in
Wichita, Kansas, for his senior year.
College career
Pinder began his college career with
Hutchinson Community College in 2014 before switching to the
University of Arizona in 2016. As a senior, Pinder averaged 2.4 points and 2.3 rebounds in 10.4 minutes per game.
Professional career
After going undrafted in the
2018 NBA draft
The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including inte ...
, Pinder signed with
Legia Warszawa of the
PLK.
In 2020, Pinder returned home to Australia and signed with the
Adelaide 36ers of the
National Basketball League (NBL) on a one-year deal.
On 19 July 2021, Pinder signed a two-year deal with the
Cairns Taipans of the NBL, with the second year being a mutual option.
National team career
Pinder competed for Australia in the
2013 FIBA Under-19 World Championship
The 2013 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Czech: Mistrovství světa FIBA do 19 let 2013) was the 11th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship contested by the U19 national team ...
Pinder to represent Australia
/ref> where his team finished fourth.
References
External links
NBL profileArizona Wildcats bioKeanu Pinder Biography, Age, Height, Family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinder, Kendal
1995 births
Living people
Adelaide 36ers players
Arizona Wildcats men's basketball players
Australian expatriate basketball people in Poland
Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States
Australian men's basketball players
Australian people of Bahamian descent
Basketball players from Perth, Western Australia
Cairns Taipans players
Forwards (basketball)
Hutchinson Blue Dragons men's basketball players
Indigenous Australian basketball players
Legia Warsaw (basketball) players