Tai Wynyard

Tai Wynyard

Wynyard in Kentucky's 2016 Blue-White scrimmage
No. 14 – Kentucky Wildcats
Position Power forward / Center
League Southeastern Conference
Personal information
Born (1998-02-05) 5 February 1998
Auckland, New Zealand
Nationality New Zealand
Listed height 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight 255 lb (116 kg)
Career information
High school Rangitoto College
(Auckland, New Zealand)
College Kentucky (2016–present)
Playing career 2014–present
Career history
2014–2015 Super City Rangers
2014–2015 New Zealand Breakers
Career highlights and awards

Tai Hikuroa Wynyard (born 5 February 1998) is a New Zealand college basketball player for the Kentucky Wildcats. Prior to joining Kentucky in December 2015, Wynyard played professionally in New Zealand for the New Zealand Breakers of the Australian NBL and the Super City Rangers of the New Zealand NBL.

Early life and career

Born in Auckland, Wynyard attended Rangeview Intermediate School and then Rangitoto College where he helped the school's basketball team win the Auckland premier championship in September 2014, recording 24 points and seven rebounds in the final over Auckland Grammar.[1]

After appearing in the Super City Rangers' first three games of the 2014 New Zealand NBL season, Wynyard travelled to the United States to participate in the 2014 Jordan Brand Classic held on 18 April.[2][3] He scored two points and grabbed one rebound as he fouled out in just 11 minutes.[4] Following the event, he returned to New Zealand and re-joined the Rangers, playing a further six games for the club to finish the season with averages of 4.6 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.[5]

On 15 July 2014, Wynyard became the youngest Tall Black when he took to the court against South Korea in Wellington.[1][6][7] He later missed out on making the final squad for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain as he went on to lead the Junior Tall Blacks in December during the 2014 Oceania Championships in Fiji.[8]

On 15 August 2014, Wynyard signed with the New Zealand Breakers as a non-contracted development player so as to keep his amateur status and his NCAA eligibility.[9] He made his debut for the Breakers in just the second game of the 2014–15 season on 17 October, recording one assist and one block in 44 seconds of play against the Adelaide 36ers.[10]

On 26 January 2015, Wynyard committed to the University of Kentucky Wildcats basketball program with the aim of joining the team in 2016–17.[11][12] On 12 March, he was named to take part in the 2015 Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon.[13] In the 11 April game, Wynyard recorded two points, two assists and one rebound as the World Team defeated Team USA, 103–101.[14][15] He then returned to New Zealand and made his season debut for the Super City Rangers on 24 April against the Wellington Saints, recording six points and four rebounds in a 102–94 win.[16] In 10 games for the Rangers, he averaged 6.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.[5]

After helping lead the Tall Blacks to the 2015 Stanković Cup title, Wynyard played in the two-game FIBA Oceania Championship series against Australia in mid-August.[17] New Zealand were defeated 2–0 as Wynyard did not play in Game 1,[18] and scored two points in Game 2.[19]

On 24 August 2015, Wynyard reacquired his development player spot with the New Zealand Breakers, maintaining a non-payment contract status in order to continue protecting his amateur status ahead of joining Kentucky in December 2015.[20][21] On 3 October, Wynyard helped Rangitoto College win the 2015 Secondary Schools National Championships,[22][23] as his performance earned him All-Tournament Team selection and MVP honours.[24] On 16 November, he signed a National Letter of Intent with Kentucky, the last official act required before joining coach John Calipari's squad in December.[25]

Wynyard appeared in seven games for the Breakers over one and a half seasons, recording totals of five points and six rebounds in limited minutes.[26]

College career

On 16 December 2015, Wynyard departed Auckland and the New Zealand Breakers, travelling to the United States to join the Kentucky Wildcats.[26] However, in late February 2016, he was ruled unlikely to play in 2015–16 by coach John Calipari, redshirting the season in order to retain four full years of college eligibility at Kentucky starting in 2016–17.[27]

In 2016–17, Wynyard logged a mere 34 minutes in Kentucky's first 20 games, while stuck behind fellow Wildcat big men Edrice Adebayo, Isaac Humphries and Sacha Killeya-Jones.[28] In March 2017, Wynyard was touted as a possible returnee to the Super City Rangers to get some much-needed game time after he was used only sparingly by coach Calipari throughout the 2016–17 season.[29] In 15 games for the Wildcats as a freshman, Wynyard averaged 3.6 minutes per game and totalled 11 points and 13 rebounds.[30]

On 26 May 2017, Wynyard was named in a 12-man Junior Tall Blacks squad for the Under-19 World Cup in Cairo, Egypt in July.[31] He saw action in all seven contests during the tournament, averaging team highs of 14.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.[32]

Personal

Wynyard is the son of world champion woodchoppers Jason and Karmyn Wynyard. His mother also played college basketball for the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves from 1992 to 1995.[33] His grandfather, Pae Wynyard, also won world titles in the sport, while his uncles compete as well.[28]

References

  1. 1 2 Burnes, Campbell (17 September 2014). "College Sport: Wynyard living life in the fast lane". NZHerald.co.nz. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  2. ↑ Hinton, Marc (8 April 2014). "Kiwi teen to play Michael Jordan Brand Classic". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  3. ↑ Karl, Ross (9 April 2014). "Teen to play basketball in front of Michael Jordan". 3news.co.nz. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "Tai Wynyard commits to Kentucky". 3news.co.nz. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Player statistics for Tai Wynyard – NZNBL". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  6. ↑ Worthington, Sam (15 July 2014). "Tai Wynyard set to make debut for Tall Blacks". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "Tai Wynyard Keeps Breakers Academy Streak Going". NZBreakers.co.nz. 16 July 2014. Archived from the original on August 9, 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "Junior Tall Blacks named for Oceania Champs". Basketball.org.nz. November 27, 2014. Archived from the original on 20 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "Breakers Announce Their D-Unit for the New Season". NZBreakers.co.nz. 15 August 2014. Archived from the original on August 22, 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  10. ↑ "Player statistics for Tai Wynyard – ANBL". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  11. ↑ Egan, Brendon (26 January 2015). "Rising Kiwi hoops star Tai Wynyard to play for the University of Kentucky Wildcats". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  12. ↑ Borzello, Jeff (25 January 2015). "Tai Wynyard to join Wildcats". ESPN.com. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  13. ↑ Hinton, Marc (12 March 2015). "Tai Wynyard to play in elite US basketball classic". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  14. ↑ Vecenie, Sam (11 April 2015). "World Team beats USA in Nike Hoop Summit behind Murray's 30". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  15. ↑ "Tai Wynyard Hoop Summit Summary". NZBreakers.co.nz. 17 April 2015. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  16. ↑ Robson, Tony (24 April 2015). "Wellington Saints' NBL winning run ends as Super City Rangers take spoils". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  17. ↑ Nichol, Tess (14 August 2015). "Basketball: Young star up for next milestone". NZHerald.co.nz. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  18. ↑ "Australia vs New Zealand". FIBALiveStats.com. 15 August 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  19. ↑ "New Zealand vs Australia". FIBALiveStats.com. 18 August 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  20. ↑ "SKYCITY BREAKERS CONFIRM ‘D’ UNIT". NZBreakers.co.nz. 24 August 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  21. ↑ Vaught, Larry (23 August 2015). "Tai Wynyard sure he "will be coming to UK in December" to join Calipari's team". VaughtsViews.com. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  22. ↑ Anderson, Niall (3 October 2015). "Rangitoto, St Peters Cambridge Crowned Secondary School Champions". NZhoops.co.nz. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  23. ↑ "Rangitoto College and St Peter's win national title". Yahoo.com. The West Australian. 3 October 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  24. ↑ Anderson, Niall (3 October 2015). "Secondary School Nationals – Tournament Teams and MVPs". NZhoops.co.nz. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  25. ↑ Hinton, Marc (16 November 2015). "Kiwi hoops sensation Tai Wynyard now officially a University of Kentucky Wildcat". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  26. 1 2 Uluc, Olgun (16 December 2015). "New Zealand basketball star Tai Wynyard jets off to US college powerhouse Kentucky". FoxSports.com.au. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  27. ↑ Marcum, Jason (29 February 2016). "John Calipari reveals tweak is back, Tai Wynyard likely not playing and more". aseaofblue.com. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  28. 1 2 Medcalf, Myron (1 February 2017). "'The Michael Jordan of lumberjacks' motivates his son, a Kentucky reserve". ESPN.com. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  29. ↑ Hinton, Marc (31 March 2017). "Jeff Green's Supercity Rangers to bring in big guns to boost NBL title challenge". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  30. ↑ "Tai Wynyard College Statistics". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  31. ↑ "Giant forwards named in Junior Tall Blacks' Under-19 World Cup squad". Stuff.co.nz. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  32. ↑ "New Zealand – FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017". FIBA.com. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  33. ↑ "Wynyard signs for Kentucky Wildcats for 2016". NZBreakers.co.nz. 27 January 2015. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
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