Most 6-foot-7 basketball players have the duty of lining up down low in the post and awaiting a pass from the guard. Once the player receives the ball in the post, he has the best chance of scoring a basket due to his height.

The opposite can be said for Dexter Kernich-Drew, WSU redshirt junior. Instead, he lines up behind the three-point line as a guard. He awaits the pass from the point guard, and instead of using a power dribble to reach the basket, he releases the ball from his hands and watches the ball swoosh through the net for three points.

Growing up in Melbourne, Australia, he was encouraged by his best friend to try basketball because he was the tallest of their friends.

“It was a game I was able to play,” Kernich-Drew said. “I was coordinated, so it wasn’t too hard.”

He remembers playing basketball in his driveway, shooting on a hoop his dad provided for him. His parents have supported him throughout his journey with basketball. He said having a supportive family is one of the biggest keys to his success.

“They were always very supportive of me playing basketball, and every other sport that I tried to play and do,” Kernich-Drew said. “It’s great to have a family.”

Kernich-Drew did not start out as a strong shooter. In order to reach his current degree of skill, he practiced and built confidence in himself. It wasn’t until about the age of 17 that Kernich-Drew’s shooting ability reached a high level.

In high school, he focused more on playing club basketball than on his high school basketball team. In Australia, club sports are more competitive than high school sports, he said.

Kernich-Drew’s recruiting process differed in comparison to most high school players’ experiences. A former WSU basketball coach was in Australia running a basketball clinic for all the top basketball players in his area.

Kernich-Drew was injured at the time of the camp, but made an appearance to let the coach he was interested. He said that schools kept tabs on players they recruited, which surprised him.

“I got a random email and call saying they were interested,” he said.

Seeing how big college basketball was in the United States, playing basketball here was a dream of his for a long time.

“I thought it would be cool to play college basketball,” Kernich-Drew said. “You see North Carolina, Duke and all the big-time schools on TV back home, so it kind of looks real cool when you want to go do that.”

He also said that basketball in Australia is not as stable compared to Europe or the United States, especially with the professional league.

“A lot of kids now are trying to play college basketball so they can get a good education, go against good competition,” Kernich-Drew said. “And if they want hopefully have a career after college, whether that be some kind of league back home or Europe or get drafted to the NBA.”

He was redshirted his freshman year (2010-11) at WSU and made a small impact his first year on the hardwood. Appearing in 30 of 37 games, Kernich-Drew had a career high in points that season with 10 points, according to wsucougars.com.

Developing into more of a key player last season, he started in 14 of the 32 games he played. He averaged 6.4 points a game and 2.4 rebounds, according to wsucougars.com.

“I think he’s a soft spoken person,” Ken Bone, WSU men’s head basketball coach said. “We’ve yet to have one issue with him in three years. He’s just been zero tolerance and he’s a great guy to have around. We love his sense of humor. He’s a good kid.”

Bone said leading up to this season Dexter is practicing well and becoming a better scorer.

Currently the redshirt junior is majoring in sociology with minors in communication and sport management.

However, Kernich-Drew’s ultimate goal is to be drafted or picked up by an NBA team. If the NBA doesn’t work out for him, he said that he definitely wants to play in Europe or somewhere else.

“I’m willing to play as long as I can,” Kernich-Drew said.