Tai Webster

Tai Webster
No. 0 – Nebraska Cornhuskers
Position Point guard / Shooting guard
League Big Ten Conference
Personal information
Born (1995-05-29) May 29, 1995
Auckland, New Zealand
Nationality New Zealand
Listed height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight 196 lb (89 kg)
Career information
High school Westlake Boys
(Auckland, New Zealand)
College Nebraska (2013–present)
Playing career 2012–present
Career history
2012 Auckland Pirates
2012–2013 New Zealand Breakers
2013 Waikato Pistons
Career highlights and awards

Tai Jack Webster (born May 29, 1995) is a New Zealand basketball player who currently plays college basketball for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He has previously played professionally in both the Australian National Basketball League and the New Zealand National Basketball League, winning championship in 2012 with the Auckland Pirates and in 2012–13 with the New Zealand Breakers.

Early career

Born in Auckland, Webster attended Westlake Boys High School where he led them to the National Secondary Schools Basketball Championships in October 2012, scoring 24 points en route to garnering tournament MVP honours. While attending Westlake, he played basketball for the North Harbour juniors; from 2010 to 2012, he played for the North Harbour U17s, U19s and U21s.

In 2012, Webster played for the Auckland Pirates, where in two games, he recorded a total of two points and two assists.[1] The Pirates went on to win the 2012 championship with an 89–83 win over the Wellington Saints in the grand final.[2]

In August 2012, Webster joined the New Zealand Breakers as a non-contracted development player for the 2012–13 NBL season.[3] In December 2012, he signed a National Letter of Intent to play college basketball at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.[4]

In April 2013, Webster signed with the Waikato Pistons for the 2013 New Zealand NBL season.[5] In 15 games for Waikato, he averaged 18.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.0 steals per game.[1]

College career

Freshman year

As a freshman for the Nebraska Cornhuskers in 2013–14, Webster was an immediate contributor, averaging 3.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 32 games (30 starts) while helping the Huskers reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998. He led Nebraska with 63 assists and was also among the team leaders in steals. Webster reached double figures four times, including a season-high 14 points against Georgia, and paced the squad in assists eight times. His season-best was five assists on three occasions.[6]

Sophomore year

As a sophomore in 2014–15, Webster emerged as one of the first Huskers off the bench, backing-up starting guards Terran Petteway and Shavon Shields. He fell out of the rotation early in Big Ten play but found a role as the Huskers' energy guy off the bench and his improved defense showed in other facets of his game. In 30 games (four starts), he averaged 3.9 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 18.4 minutes per game.[6]

Senior year

Webster is currently averaging 16.9 ppg, 5.4 reb per game and 3.8 assists through his first 8 games.

College statistics

Current as of December 3, 2016

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2013–14 Nebraska 32 30 22.8 .304 .171 .619 2.1 2.0 0.8 0.1 3.9
2014–15 Nebraska 30 4 18.4 .358 .231 .737 1.9 1.2 0.7 0.1 3.9
2015–16 Nebraska 34 18 27.7 .474 .350 .740 4.1 1.9 1.4 0.4 10.1
2016–17 Nebraska 8 8 32.1 .489 .419 .773 5.4 3.8 1.1 0.2 16.9
Career 104 60 23.8 .421 .292 .706 2.9 1.9 1.0 0.2 7.0

International career

Webster represented New Zealand in the 2012 FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament where he averaged 13.5 points per game. On August 19, 2014, he was named in the Tall Blacks' twelve-man squad for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.[7]

Personal

Webster is the son of Tony and Cherry Webster. Tony was a standout athlete in his own right, earning first team All-WAC honors at Hawaii in 1983 and ranking fourth on Hawaii’s career steals list before playing professionally in New Zealand. His older brother, Corey, plays professionally for the New Zealand Breakers.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 Player statistics for Tai Webster
  2. ↑ Auckland NBL Champions
  3. ↑ BREAKERS WELCOME BACK WEBSTER AS ROSTER IS FINALISED
  4. ↑ Webster Officially in the Fold
  5. ↑ Tai Webster's signing should get Pistons firing
  6. 1 2 3 "Tai Webster Bio". Huskers.com. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  7. ↑ Tall Blacks cut down squad for FIBA World Cup
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