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Dyshawn Pierre: The Sleeper Awakes

Published by Jason Gairey on August 25, 2010

Anderson CVI, located in Whitby, Ontario, had an incredible run this year, thanks to its Batman and Robin like combo in guard Justin Edwards and forward Dyshawn Pierre.

Edwards is a prolific scorer, and has slowly been earning his respect amongst the high school basketball community. However, if you sat and watched a game last season, you would notice that the more consistent, and more impressive, of the two was the 6-foot-6 Pierre.

Pierre showed signs of being a player to watch out for during the high school season, but really came out as a late bloomer. With they’re outside/inside attack, him and Edwards would make their team a notable one in the Durham Region leading them to berths at OFSAA’s Triple A championships, two years running.

Pierre would also see some success in their OBA season with the Whitby Wildcats.

“This season Dyshawn [Pierre’s] performance was incredible,” Pierre’s high school and club team coach Dean Hutcroft said. “He continues to grow, develop and mature and is truly emerging into a great player.”

The recent success on the hardwood would get him an opportunity to develop with Canada Basketball, allowing him to attend the national team’s open workouts during the beginning of the summer.

He so impressed the coaching staff in the open tryouts that he was given an invite to the U17 Cadet tryouts where he further impressed, getting selected to the roster by Cadet Men’s head coach Roy Rana.

“I had my eye on Dyshawn [Pierre] for a while and working with him this summer saw how crafty his game was. He was that sleeper that shocked everyone.” said Rana.

Being one of the new faces added from last year’s previous roster, he would have to go out and prove every practice that he belonged there. He was given that opportunity once he stepped on the floor at the U17 FIBA World Championships, being a force and one of the X factors for the talented but slightly undersized squad.

Pierre showcased his ability to rebound, defend, score throughout the tournament, culminating in a couple of double-double performances.

“Playing with the Cadet team made me a better player,” the Anderson CVI star said. “The experience was great and gave me a look at what I need to do to be a standout player at the next level.”

The end result for his first Canada Basketball experience was a bronze medal in Germany. Not bad for a kid from Whitby, and who’s name was not as familiar as some of the others.

“He played phenomenal for us in Germany, an MVP like performance with his consistent play against players bigger and stronger,” Rana said.

Coming home, the basketball continued. His OBA/AAU team took to Las Vegas on the AAU circuit where he would get a little taste of the U.S competition.

His summer of playing against top competition internationally and across the border has only fueled his fire to prepare himself for his next stop, college/university level basketball.

He has been given a lot of interest from many CIS universities such as Ryerson and Windsor, as well as some notice south of the border from NCAA schools such as Butler and New Mexico State.

Before he advances to that level of his basketball life however, Pierre will look to help lead his Anderson CVI team out of the Durham Region shadows and onto a possible OFSAA Gold medal this upcoming high school season.

“I just want to establish myself as a complete player. Work on playing both guard and forward positions and add an outside game.” Pierre said. “This season I want to accomplish things on and off the court to open doors for my future.”

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