Derrick Samuel Alston Sr. (born August 20, 1972) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach and former player who serves as an assistant coach for the

Wisconsin Herd The Wisconsin Herd are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and are affiliated with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Herd play their home games at Oshkosh Arena. History On June 29, 2016, it was anno ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

. In February 2023, Alston became the second head coach of the

Montreal Alliance The Montreal Alliance () are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada founded in 2021. They compete in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) and play their home games at the Verdun Auditorium. The Montreal A ...

of the

Canadian Elite Basketball League The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL; ) is the premier men's professional basketball league in Canada, as recognized by Canada Basketball. The CEBL was founded in 2017 and began play in 2019 with six teams all owned and operated by owner ...

(CEBL). He previously coached primarily in the

, including as the head coach of the

Westchester Knicks The Westchester Knicks are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in White Plains, New York, and are affiliated with the New York Knicks. The Knicks play their home games at Westchester County Center in White Plains, N ...

Early life

Born in

The Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County to its north; to its south and west, the New York City bo ...

, Alston played basketball at Hoboken High School in

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the ...

Professional career

Alston, a

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

/ center from

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( ; also known as Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a Private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of ...

, started off his professional career when he was selected 33rd overall in the

1994 NBA draft The 1994 NBA draft took place on June 29, 1994, at Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis. Two NBA rookies of the year were picked in the first round, as Jason Kidd and Grant Hill were co-winners of the award for the 1994–95 NBA season. Kidd and Hill ...

by the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

for whom he played two seasons. He then played 2 games for the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

in late

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

before taking his game overseas. Joining the

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Bank of New Zealand, BNZ Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers are the only non-Australian side currently competing in Austral ...

mid-season 2007–08, Alston made an immediate impact. Statwise, he reached the top 20 in the league for FG%, shooting at 56.0%, and offensive rebounds, while averaging 13.8 ppg and being instrumental in helping the Breakers reach the playoffs for the first time in club history.

Career statistics

NBA

, - , align="left" , 1994–95 , align="left" ,

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 64 , , 1 , , 16.1 , , .465 , , .000 , , .492 , , 3.4 , , 0.5 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 4.7 , - , align="left" , 1995–96 , align="left" ,

, 73 , , 41 , , 22.1 , , .512 , , .333 , , .491 , , 4.1 , , 0.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.7 , , 6.2 , - , align="left" , 1996–97 , align="left" ,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, 2 , , 0 , , 5.5 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 139 , , 42 , , 19.1 , , .489 , , .143 , , .487 , , 3.8 , , 0.7 , , 0.7 , , 0.6 , , 5.4

College

, - , align="left" , 1990–91 , align="left" , Duquesne , 28 , , 25 , , 28.8 , , .536 , , .000 , , .598 , , 6.3 , , 1.3 , , 0.8 , , 1.9 , , 11.3 , - , align="left" , 1991–92 , align="left" , Duquesne , 28 , , - , , 32.8 , , .556 , , .000 , , .526 , , 8.0 , , 1.5 , , 1.2 , , 2.1 , , 13.9 , - , align="left" , 1992–93 , align="left" , Duquesne , 28 , , 27 , , 34.3 , , .563 , , 1.000 , , .574 , , 9.3 , , 1.1 , , 1.4 , , 2.1 , , 19.9 , - , align="left" , 1993–94 , align="left" , Duquesne , 30 , , - , , 36.0 , , .578 , , .000 , , .601 , , 7.3 , , 1.4 , , 1.6 , , 1.8 , , 21.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 114 , , 52 , , 33.0 , , .561 , , .333 , , .576 , , 7.7 , , 1.3 , , 1.2 , , 2.0 , , 16.7

Coaching career

After retiring, in 2012, Alston joined the staff of the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

and served as their Player Development Coach for two seasons 2012–2015. On October 27, 2015, he was hired by the

to be an assistant coach. In August 2014, Alston traveled to the Philippines as a SportsUnited Sports Envoy for the U.S. Department of State. In this function, he worked with Alison Feaster and Erik Spoelstra to conduct basketball clinics and events for more than 375 youth from underserved areas. In so doing, Alston helped contribute to SportsUnited's mission to advance the status of women and girls around the world and to show support to an important regional partner. In August 2019, he was named head coach of the

of the

. He held the head coaching position until the end of the 2021–22 season. On October 25, 2022, Alston was named an assistant coach of the NBA G League's College Park Skyhawks. In November 2023, Alston was named head coach of the Pioneros de Los Mochis of the

Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacífico The Pacific Coast Basketball Circuit ( or CIBACOPA), officially known as the Liga Chevron CIBACOPA for sponsorship reasons, is a ten team basketball league based in Northwestern Mexico. The matches take place from March to June. History A leag ...

(CIBACOPA) ahead of the 2024 season. On November 1, 2024, Alston became an assistant coach for the

Personal life

Alston's son Derrick Alston Jr. was a college basketball player at Boise State, before embarking on a career in professional basketball. Alston also has a daughter named Avery.

References

External links

* *
Derrick Alston
at ACB.com (archived)
Derrick Alston
– college basketball player statistics at

Sports Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey ...