Lester Quiñones
No. 11 – Memphis Tigers | |
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Position | Shooting guard |
League | American Athletic Conference |
Personal information | |
Born | Brentwood, New York | November 16, 2000
Nationality | American / Dominican |
Listed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
Listed weight | 208 lb (94 kg) |
Career information | |
High school |
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College | Memphis (2019–present) |
Career highlights and awards | |
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Lester Quiñones (born November 16, 2000) is a Dominican-American college basketball player for the Memphis Tigers of the American Athletic Conference (AAC). He attended St. Benedict's Preparatory School and played a postgraduate season at IMG Academy.
Early life and high school career[]
Quiñones grew up in Brentwood, New York and started playing basketball in sixth grade. In his first two years of high school, he attended Brentwood High School. As a junior, Quiñones transferred to Upper Room Christian School in Dix Hills, New York and averaged 19.3 points per game.[1] He was named to the 2017 Long Island Basketball honor roll.[2]
For his senior season, Quiñones moved to St. Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark, New Jersey. He joined a nationally ranked basketball program and became teammates with five-star recruit Precious Achiuwa.[3][4] On January 7, 2018, Quiñones scored a game-high 23 points in a win over Hudson Catholic Regional High School, the number one team in the NJ.com Top 20 poll.[5] He helped his team to a 28–2 record and a top 10 national ranking by MaxPreps.[6] In the summer, Quiñones played for New Heights alongside Achiuwa, averaging 15.2 points and 4.7 rebounds on the Under Armour Association (UAA) circuit.[7]
Entering the 2018–19 season, he transferred to IMG Academy, a prep school in Bradenton, Florida with a successful basketball program, joining the postgraduate team.[8] Quiñones averaged 24 points, nine rebounds, and six assists per game, shooting 38 percent on three-pointers.[9]
Recruiting[]
Quiñones finished his high school and postgraduate career as a consensus four-star recruit.[10] On May 10, 2019, he committed to play college basketball for Memphis under head coach Penny Hardaway. He had also strongly considered playing for Indiana.[11]
Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
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Lester Quiñones SG |
Brentwood, NY | IMG Academy (FL) | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | May 10, 2019 | |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 84 | ||||||
Overall recruiting rankings: Rivals: 48 247Sports: 51 ESPN: 82 | ||||||
Sources:
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College career[]
With James Wiseman sitting out due to eligibility issues, Quiñones had his first double-double on November 16, 2019, recording 21 points and 10 rebounds in a 102–56 win over Alcorn State.[12] As a result, he was named American Athletic Conference freshman of the week on November 18.[13] Quiñones broke his right hand during a November 23 game against Ole Miss and missed three weeks.[14] At the conclusion of the regular season, Quiñones was named to the American Athletic Conference All-Freshman Team.[15] He averaged 10.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.[16]
National team career[]
Quiñones is Dominican American and plays for the Dominican Republic national team.[1] He joined the under-18 team at the 2018 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship in St. Catharines, Ontario. In six games, Quiñones averaged 17.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game, leading his team to sixth place.[17] His best performance came in a loss to Puerto Rico, in which he recorded 31 points and seven three-pointers.[18]
Career statistics[]
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
College[]
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019–20 | Memphis | 26 | 23 | 29.4 | .402 | .313 | .804 | 3.8 | 2.2 | .8 | .1 | 10.7 |
2020–21 | Memphis | 28 | 28 | 26.3 | .432 | .400 | .672 | 5.8 | 1.9 | .9 | .2 | 9.5 |
Career | 54 | 51 | 27.8 | .418 | .356 | .753 | 4.9 | 2.0 | .8 | .1 | 10.1 |
References[]
- ^ a b Cordova, David (January 11, 2019). "Lester Quinones: Long Island Native Makes A Name Himself Nationally". Dave's Joint. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
- ^ "2017 Basketball Honor Roll". Long Island Basketball. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
- ^ Zagoria, Adam (December 17, 2017). "New Jersey Tip-Off Notebook: Lester Quinones, Precious Achiuwa, Louis King, Trey Patterson Show Out". Zags Blog. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
- ^ Divens, Jordan (May 17, 2018). "Way-too-early high school basketball Top 25 for 2018-19". MaxPreps. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
- ^ Schneider, Jeremy (January 7, 2018). "Precious Achiuwa and St. Benedict's Prep take down No. 1 Hudson Catholic". NJ.com. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- ^ Divens, Jordan (April 2, 2018). "Final 2017-18 MaxPreps High School Top 25 Boys Basketball Rankings". MaxPreps. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- ^ Harkins, Lukas (April 16, 2019). "NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing favored five for Lester Quinones". Busting Brackets. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- ^ Zagoria, Adam (August 13, 2018). "Precious Achiuwa, Lester Quinones transfer to Florida powerhouses from St. Benedict's Prep". Zags Blog. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- ^ "Lester Quinones - 2019-20". University of Memphis Athletics. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- ^ "Lester Quinones, 2019 Shooting guard". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- ^ Abdeldaiem, Alaa (May 10, 2019). "Four-Star Prospect Lester Quinones Is The Latest Star Joining Penny Hardaway In Memphis". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- ^ "Quinones, Achiuwa send No. 13 Memphis past Alcorn St 102–56". ESPN. Associated Press. November 16, 2019. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
- ^ "Tulsa's Rachal, Memphis' Quinones Earn Men's Basketball Weekly Awards". American Athletic Conference. November 18, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
- ^ "Memphis guard Lester Quinones out 3 weeks with broken hand". ESPN. Associated Press. November 25, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
- ^ "American Athletic Conference Announces All-Conference, All-Freshman Teams". American Athletic Conference. March 10, 2020. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
- ^ Fowler, Christian (April 19, 2020). "Freshman Review: Lester Quinones". 247 Sports. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ^ "Lester Quinones (DOM)'s profile". FIBA. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- ^ Zagoria, Adam (June 11, 2018). "2019 guard Lester Quinones sees interest spike as he plays for Dominican U18 team". Zags Blog. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
External links[]
- 2000 births
- Living people
- American sportspeople of Dominican Republic descent
- Basketball players from New York (state)
- Memphis Tigers men's basketball players
- People from Brentwood, New York
- Shooting guards
- St. Benedict's Preparatory School alumni