Preston Demond Knowles (born March 29, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for Aurora Jesi of the Italian Serie A2 Basket. He formerly played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals.

Preston Knowles
No. 15 – Mono Vampire
PositionPoint guard
LeagueAsean Basketball League
Personal information
Born (1989-03-29) March 29, 1989 (age 35)
Winchester, Kentucky, U.S.
Listed height185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Listed weight88 kg (194 lb)
Career information
High schoolGeorge Rogers Clark
(Winchester, Kentucky)
CollegeLouisville (2007–2011)
NBA draft2011: undrafted
Playing career2011–present
Career history
2011Dnipro-Azot
2011–2012Springfield Armor
2013K.A.O.D.
2013–2015Ironi Nes Ziona
2015–2016Giorgio Tesi Group Pistoia
2016AEK Larnaca
2016–2017Maccabi Ashdod
2017–2018Zadar
2018–2019Derthona Basket
2019Aurora Jesi
2019–presentMono Vampire

High school and college career

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Knowles attended George Rogers Clark High School in his native Winchester, Kentucky. He stayed in the state for college, signing with Louisville, playing in the Big East Conference of the NCAA Division I, in 2007. Playing for the Cardinals, he was noted for his work ethic, defense,[1] and three-point shooting, regularly amongst the best in the Conference in shooting percentage from three.[2]

Professional career

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Knowles signed a contract with Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague side Dnipro-Azot in December 2012, he ended up playing in 3 games in the league before leaving the side that same month.[3]

The American then returned home, signing with the Springfield Armor of the NBA Development League in January 2012. He finished the 2011–12 season with the Armor, averaging 7.3 points, 1.1 assists and 1.1 steals in nearly 17 minutes per game after playing 31 games.[4]

After another stint with Dnipro-Azot in which he didn't play a competitive game, Knowles moved to Greek Basket League K.A.O.D. American Genetics in October 2012. He finished the 2012–13 with 12.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists in more than 27 minutes per game after playing in 23 games.[5]

In the 2013 summer off-season, Knowles signed a contract to play for Ironi Nes Ziona in the Israeli Basketball Super League.[6] In August 2014, his deal was extended for another season.[7]

In July 2015, Knowles moved to Italian Lega Basket Serie A outfit Giorgio Tesi Group Pistoia, signing for the 2015–16 season.[8]

The 2016–17 season, Knowles started with AEK Larnaca but left the club after appearing in two games. On December 18, 2016, he signed with Israeli club Maccabi Ashdod.[9]

On August 25, 2017, Knowles signed with the Croatian team Zadar for the 2017–18 season.[10] He averaged 14.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.

On July 17, 2018, Knowles signed with the Italian second division squad Derthona Basket.[11] In January 2019, Knowles moved to another Serie A2 Basket club, Aurora Jesi.[12]

References

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  1. ^ Berman, Dennis K. (2009-03-16). "Cardinals Rule an Otherwise Awful Winter". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
  2. ^ "Preston Knowles". GoCards.com. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  3. ^ "Eurobasket news report (12/31/2011) - Dnipro release Frederick House, DniproAzot part ways with Preston Knowles". Eurobasket.com. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Preston Knowles". NBADLeague.com. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  5. ^ "ΝΟΟΥΛΣ Πρέστον" [Knowles Preston]. Esake.gr. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Former Louisville basketball players Preston Knowles, Larry O'Bannon sign new overseas deals". Louisville Courier-Journal. 7 August 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Eurobasket news report (8/3/2014) - Ironi Nes-Ziona keeps Knowles for another season". Eurobasket.com. 3 August 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Ingaggiato Preston Knowles" [Preston Knowles is recruited]. PistoiaBasket2000.com (in Italian). 31 July 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  9. ^ "Maccabi Ashdod lands Preston Knowles and Jackie Carmichael". Sportando.com. December 18, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  10. ^ "KK Zadar signs Preston Knowles and Domagoj Vukovic". Sportando.com. August 25, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  11. ^ Preston Knowles inks with Derthona Basket
  12. ^ "Preston Knowles potpisao za Termoforgiju Jesi" (in Croatian). ezadar.rtl.hr. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
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