At the age of 16, Jason Preston was faced with an obstacle bigger than basketball. Preston’s mother, Judith, lost her battle with lung cancer. Growing up in Orlando, basketball most likely pushed Preston through an unimaginable grieving process, but Ohio University’s flashy point guard says his faith pulled him towards peace.
“Once I truly believed, in my faith, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the aspect of everything happening for a reason, so just to know that, it’s all a part of God’s plan. She’s in a better place now, instead of having to struggle the way she was down here. She’s in a much better place and you know, just having that mindset really helps you push through not only that specific obstacle but anything you might be dealing with in life.” He made this statement in a zoom a few days before the 2021 draft. Below is a highlight tape of some of Jason Preston's brilliance during the first and second round in the March Madness tournament.
Preston proceeded to the draft, and glory to God, he was drafted 33rd overall by the Los Angeles Clippers.
Although, Preston wasn't some athletic freak whose path was very clear, similar to Lamelo Ball, who knew he'd attempt to get into the NBA since he was a sophomore in high school. Jason was actually attending classes during the summer at the University of Central Florida hoping to major in journalism in the fall at the school. Although he enjoyed playing basketball in tournaments around Orlando and Georgia and was ultimately suggested by D1 and D2 scouts that he should consider prep school. He did exactly that and moved to Tennessee and played for Believe Prep Academy and he did very well averaging 12 points and 9 assists and 7 boards per game.
“As the season was ending, I realized I didn’t have any film on myself and that’s something that coaches want,” Preston says. “So after one of our tournaments, I asked for the team iPad. I’m screen recording all these clips of myself. I sent it over to one of my friends, he put it all together, like a two-minute, three-minute mix, and Believe’s Twitter page posted it.”
While you can't find the post anymore because it has been removed due to copyright issues, Preston’s unselfishness and brilliant skills to find the open man got him a spot at Ohio University.
“It was basically an entirely new team and I knew that I was gonna have to take a bigger role and I was really excited for the opportunity,” he says. “I was eating five meals a day, I’m talking about meals meals. Lifting anytime I could, working out at least twice a day like, I was really really motivated that summer.”
Preston says that while he was as motivated as he'd ever been, he had put on 20 pounds during that summer by eating Chipotle, which sounds great right about now. All those burrito bowls, steak and rice, with guac for an extra charge, definitely paid off as he averaged about 17 points and 7 assists per game. Truly a crazy story for Jason, and one that I'm sure nobody, including himself, saw coming.
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