Casey Prather

Casey Prather

Prather at the 2016 Perth Wildcats championship ceremony
No. 23 – Perth Wildcats
Position	Shooting guard / Small forward
League	NBL
Personal information
Born	(1991-05-29) May 29, 1991 Jackson, Tennessee
Nationality	American
Listed height	198 cm (6 ft 6 in)
Listed weight	94 kg (207 lb)
Career information
High school	North Side (Jackson, Tennessee)
College	Florida (2010–2014)
NBA draft	2014 / Undrafted
Playing career	2014–present
Career history
2014–2015	Bakersfield Jam
2015–present	Perth Wildcats
Career highlights and awards
NBL champion (2016) First-team All-SEC (2014)

Casey Prather (born May 29, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the University of Florida before playing professionally in the NBA Development League and Australia. In 2016, he won an NBL championship with the Perth Wildcats.

Early life

Prather was born and raised in Jackson, Tennessee under the stern watch of his mother Enova and sister Brittany, his parents having split before he was born. Growing up, family and basketball were the only things that kept him away from the growing criminal element in his community. At the age of 12, his stepfather, Jeffery, noticed Prather's athleticism and began teaching him the skills required to pursue playing professionally.^[1]

High school career

Prather attended Jackson's North Side High School, where as a junior in 2008–09, he poured in 53 points and grabbed 24 rebounds in a district game against Fayette Ware High School, a performance that encapsulated his raw potential.^[2] He was selected to the All-District team and was named team MVP all four seasons at North Side, and was selected to the district's All-Tournament team his sophomore, junior and senior seasons. He was also named All-West Player of the Year in 2008–09 and 2009–10.^[3]

Prather averaged 28 points per game as a sophomore, and 24.4 points and 14 rebounds as a junior. Following his junior year, he was ranked the 25th best prospect by Scout.com, and the 10th best small forward. On November 17, 2009, he signed a National Letter of Intent to play college basketball for the University of Florida.^[4][5]

As a senior in 2009–10, Prather was a finalist for Tennessee's Mr. Basketball after averaging 29 points, 13 rebounds, five blocks, five steals and three assists per game. He finished his four-year career at North Side with over 2,000 points.^[3]

During his time at North Side, Prather was member of the Nashville Celtics AAU team that captured the 2010 River City Showdown Championship.^[3]

College career

Prather joined Billy Donovan's Florida Gators for his freshman season in 2010–11. Over his first three college seasons, Prather was a key role player off the bench. As a freshman, he averaged 1.2 points and 1.1 rebounds in 33 games (two starts),^[3] as the Gators reached the Regional Finals, where they lost to Butler.

As a sophomore in 2011–12, Prather saw action in 28 games, averaging 2.0 points and 1.8 rebounds off the bench. He scored a career-best 14 points, on six-of-seven shooting, and added four rebounds in Round of 64 action against Virginia.^[3] The Gators went on to reach the Regional Finals for the second straight year, where they were defeat again, this time by Louisville.

As a junior in 2012–13, Prather played in 29 games with two starting assignments, and averaged a career-best 6.2 points per game for the year. He twice scored a season-high 12 points, and had an 11-point game in Florida's Sweet 16 win over Florida Gulf Coast.^[3] The win moved them onto to the Regional Finals for the third straight year, but were defeated again, this time by Michigan.

In his senior year of 2013–14, Prather stepped up to become a key scorer for the Gators, more than doubling his scoring average from his junior year. He led the Gators in scoring and was named to the All-SEC first team.^[6] He became the third Gator under Billy Donovan to record three 27-point games in a single season, joining Nick Calathes (2008–09) and Teddy Dupay (2000–01). He totaled six 20-point games, including his career-best 28 points in Florida's season opener against North Florida.^[3] This increase in production was a key factor for Florida becoming one of the top teams of the 2013–14 season.^[7] For the fourth straight year, the Gators reached the Regional Finals. This year, they finally broke the hoodoo, defeating Dayton to move on to the Final Four.^[8][9] In the National semi-finals, the Gators were defeated by Connecticut to fall short of reaching the Championship Game, despite a 15-point effort from Prather.^[3] In 37 games (35 starts) for the Gators in 2013–14, he averaged 13.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals per game.^[3]

Professional career

Bakersfield Jam (2014–2015)

After going undrafted in the 2014 NBA draft, Prather joined the Atlanta Hawks for the 2014 Las Vegas Summer League.^[10] In five games for the Hawks, he averaged 5.2 points and 2.2 rebounds in 20.3 minutes per game.^[11][12] On September 26, he signed with the Phoenix Suns.^[13] However, he was later waived by the Suns on October 14 after appearing in one preseason game.^[14]

On November 2, 2014, Prather was acquired by the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League as an affiliate player of the Suns.^[15] He began the 2014–15 season slowly, scoring just six points over the first two games of the season. On November 18, in just his third D-League game, he scored 18 points in 38 minutes of action as a starter in a 151–148 triple overtime loss to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.^[16] On January 8, 2015, he had his first 20-point outing, finishing with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting in a 103–102 win over the Austin Spurs.^[17] He went on to help the Jam win the inaugural NBA Development League Showcase Cup on January 19, scoring 16 points in the final against the Grand Rapids Drive.^[18][19] On March 22, he scored a season-high 30 points in a 124–113 win over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.^[20] In the Jam's regular season finale on April 4, Prather had a 25-point effort in a 113–99 loss to the Santa Cruz Warriors.^[21] The Jam entered the playoffs as the third seed in the Western Conference with a 34–16 record. Prather appeared in 46 of the team's 50 regular season games. In the first round of the playoffs, the Jam faced the Austin Spurs, but despite going up 1–0 in the series, they went on to lose the next two games to bow out of the playoffs with a 2–1 defeat. Prather had his best effort of the series in Game 2, scoring 21 points.^[22] In 49 games for Bakersfield in 2014–15, he averaged 12.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

In July 2015, Prather joined the NBA D-League Select Team for the 2015 Las Vegas Summer League.^[23] He played off the bench in the team's first three games of the tournament before earning DNPs in the final two. He went scoreless in 13½ minutes in the first game against the Houston Rockets,^[24] had 13 points and 8 rebounds in 16 minutes in the second game against the Washington Wizards,^[25] and had 13 points and 7 rebounds in 21 minutes in the third game against the Atlanta Hawks.^[26][27] They went 2–1 with Prather playing, and 3–2 overall.^[28] After the Summer League, he sat down with scouts from the Perth Wildcats, who had taken a liking to his game with Bakersfield and the D-League Select Team. Prather's teammate at Florida, Scottie Wilbekin, convinced him Australia was a great destination and encouraged him to sign with the Wildcats.^[29]

Perth Wildcats (2015–present)

2015–16 season

On July 25, 2015, Prather signed with the Perth Wildcats for the 2015–16 NBL season.^[30] On October 10, 2015, he made his debut for the Wildcats in their season opener against the Adelaide 36ers. In 18 minutes of action as a starter, he recorded nine points and five rebounds in a 79–66 win.^[31] Six days later, he scored 11 points against the New Zealand Breakers to help the Wildcats claim a 2–0 start to the season. However, a knee injury forced him out of the team's next three games, as the Wildcats fell to a 3–2 record. In his return game on October 31 against the Illawarra Hawks, Prather scored 18 points off the bench to help the Wildcats win 91–62.^[32] On November 22, he scored a then season-high 26 points and made the winning free throw with 1.5 seconds left in the match to lift the Wildcats to a 91–90 win over the Cairns Taipans. He also recorded 8 rebounds and 5 assists in the game, both season highs.^[33] On December 19, he missed his fourth game of the season due to an ankle injury.^[34] On January 15, 2016, he scored a season-high 27 points in a 95–68 win over the Sydney Kings, helping the Wildcats snap a three-game losing streak.^[35]

Between January 25 and February 10, Prather missed three out of four games due to hamstring tightness.^[36][37] He returned to the line-up for the team's final regular season game against the Adelaide 36ers at home on February 14, recording 15 points and 6 rebounds in a 100–84 win.^[38] He went on to lead the Wildcats to a 2–1 semi-final series win over the Illawarra Hawks,^[39] scoring 15 points and throwing down a one-handed thunderous slam over Andrew Ogilvy early in the fourth quarter of their Game 3 win.^[40] Moving on to the Grand Final series, the Wildcats defeated the reigning champion New Zealand Breakers 2–1 to claim their seventh NBL championship.^[41] He appeared in 27 of the team's 34 games in 2015–16, averaging 16.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game. At the Wildcats MVP Ball, Prather was crowned the Gordon Ellis Medalist as the club's Most Valuable Player for the 2015–16 season.^[42]

2016–17 season

Coming off an impressive stint with the Wildcats, Prather was invited to join the Dallas Mavericks for the 2016 Orlando Summer League.^[43] In five games for the Mavericks, he averaged 11.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game.^[44]

While not originally expected to return to the Wildcats in order to chase his NBA dream,^[45] Prather changed his mind following his stint with the Mavericks and agreed to re-join the club.^[46] On July 18, 2016, Prather re-signed with the Wildcats for the 2016–17 season.^[47] In the team's season opener on October 6, Prather struggled with his shot, going 3-of-13 from the field for nine points, as the Wildcats were defeated 72–65 by the Brisbane Bullets.^[48] Two days later, he had a 23-point effort in the Wildcats' 84–74 overtime win over the Cairns Taipans.^[49] In the Wildcats' third game of the season on October 14, Prather had his best scoring game in the NBL, as he recorded 29 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals in a 75–73 win over the New Zealand Breakers.^[50] On November 13, he recorded his first career double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds, despite fouling out with 3:35 left in regulation in what was an 87–86 overtime loss to the Breakers.^[51]

References

External links

• Casey Prather at wildcats.com.au
• Casey Prather at floridagators.com
• Sky's the limit for Prather
• US duo's bond runs deep