Throughout last season, the story that swept the college hoops nation revolved around Ohio University guard Jason Preston. After his mother passed away from lung cancer five years ago, Jason’s aunt became his legal guardian due to his father’s absence. Since she lived in Jamaica, Jason began to stay with his mother’s best friend’s son.
At Boone High School (Orlando, FL) Preston averaged only 2.2 points per game. At 6”0 140 lbs his chance of playing organized basketball at the collegiate level were slim to none. As a matter of fact, Jason began to attend college at UCF for journalism purposes only.
Jason figured he would pursue the journalistic route as he familiarized himself within online circles and heavily favored Detroit Pistons basketball. His mother had a major influence on the Pistons immersion as her favorite team was the 2004 Championship team with Chauncey Billups.
This development proved extremely interesting as many entertainers, athletes and those who cover both often find a way to intertwine. While many artists want to be ballplayers and several athletes want to become artists – where does the journalist fit in?
Well, in this scenario it looks like they nearly all found a place to intermix! With that, Preston handles himself like a professional and his avant garde nature on court proves that he is certainly an artiste of many sorts.
Although, while at UCF, he met someone who invited him to an AAU tournament, and at that tournament he clocked in at 6”4 after a late growth spurt. Following a strong outing, he received an invite from another individual to hoop at Believe Prep Academy in South Carolina.
In prep school, teams are ranked from A-D and Preston landed on the C Team which is essentially rec league talent. After dropping a triple-double, Jason went onto create his own highlight reel and post it on Twitter.
From there, Ohio University Men’s Basketball discovered his talent and made him a scholarship offer!* Luckily, OU bulked him up by thirty pounds and together they improved his vertical jump as well. He shot 40% from 3 point range last season, averaged 16.8 PPG with 6.4 RPG and 7.4 APG.
In early 2020, Preston racked up 31 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds against the #8 team in the nation, Illinois. Unfortunately, the outcome did not play out in the Bobcats favor as Ayo Dosunmu and the Illini scraped out a tough victory at home in Champagne, IL 77-75.
After stringing together two consistently productive seasons – Jason is certain to receive a draft selection into the NBA on July 29th. This would make him only the fourth player in this century from the MAC to do so.
After defeating formidable opponent, Virginia Preston & OU went on to beat Creighton as well to earn a Sweet 16 bid. It is clear that Jason can slow the game down to his pace and moves with a very old school type of rhythm. His high IQ, playmaking vision and meticulous play running make him an extremely intriguing prospect.
During his Chicago draft combine, Preston impressed scouts and proved his ability to adjust in accordance to a faster pace. He signed with Drew Gross – an agent for Roc Nation sports and is currently ranked 41st out of 100 on ESPN’s Top 100 prospect list.
His old school post game, slender frame, crucial ball fakes/pump fakes and pocket passes ensure his roster spot on any NBA team. He recently worked out with the Lakers who hold the 22nd pick. It is clear that his game will translate well into the professional arena and this man has a potential to reach a high trajectory slope early on in his career.
*Jason also received an offer from Longwood University on 04/05/2018.
FreshNewsNow 