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The Cleveland Cavaliers capped their draft night for this year’s edition by selecting Sir’Dominic Pointer at number 53 out of St. John’s University. Pointer is an “old” rookie at 23 years of age and an undersized small forward in NBA standards at 6’5” tall but his defense has been his meal ticket earning him co-Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors with averages of 1.9 steals and 2.4 blocks per game. While we’re probably aware of all these about the defensive minded rookie, we gathered 10 interesting facts that most people don’t know about Sir’Dominic.
10. Pointer’s Roots
Pointer was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan to parents Anthony Nolan and Sans Pointer.
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9. Motor City Upbringing
Just like every kid that grew up in the blue collar city, Pointer was a die-hard Pistons fan and was even invited by the Pistons to attend a pre-draft workout.
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8. Pointer’s Sisters
Sir’Dominic has two sisters, and one of them has an even more mind blowing name than he does. One sister is named Connae, while his twin sister is named Miz’Unique.
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7. Inspiration
According to him, his desire to outwork others came from his cousin Michael Robinson, who was shot and killed at age 26. Robinson helped him stay in school, motivated Pointer in basketball, and helped him avoid influence from gangs. Pointer later used his cousin’s picture as his profile picture on Twitter and said, “I appreciate him for that.”
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6. High School
Pointer moved to Roseville, Michigan prior to playing his first two years of high school basketball at Roseville High School. He attended Quality Education Academy in Winston-Salem, North Carolina for his final two seasons. Following graduation, some recruiting services rated him as 8th best small forward and 24th best player of his class.
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5. College Choice
Pointer attended St. Johns University in New York City. He chose St. John’s because of Coach Lavin and his coaching staff along with the academics factor. He chose to major in sports management.
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4. Role Model
Pointer isn’t regarded as a highly skilled player, but that has never bothered him. Not even knowing if he was going to be good enough to get drafted, Pointer said he has hope, due to his inspiration that came out of Michigan State.
There’s a lot of players in the NBA that give me hope. Draymond Green just happens to be one of them who’s on the main stage right now. I can defend for a team. I can do the same things Draymond can do for a team. I can defend, hit an open shot, play hard and encourage my team.
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3. Defensive Mindset
As a senior at St. John’s, Pointer received the Haggerty Award honoring the best college basketball player in New York City’s metropolitan region. He was named to the All Big East Second Team after averaging 13.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game.
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2. Shooting Woes
Pointer is a defensive minded player that scores just about everything on hustle plays. With a 6-foot-8 wingspan combined with his impressive athletic ability, Pointer has all of the qualities necessary to be a stout NBA defender. Pointer desperately needs to improve on his outside shot after going a dismal 2-for-25 (8.0 percent) from behind the arc as a senior (he shot 20 percent for his entire collegiate career).
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1. Taking Pointers
Pointer clearly enjoyed school way too much. When asked what his favorite subject was, his answer was Math. And when asked what his favorite book was his answer was Of Mice and Men.