Ish Wainright

Ishmail Carzell Wainright was born in September of 1994 in Kansas City, Missouri. He is the son of Calvin Wainright and Mary Mills and is the grandson of former professional basketball player Maurice King who spent time playing in the NBA, Eastern Professional Basketball League and the American Basketball League from 1959 to 1963. Wainright played his first two seasons of prep high school basketball at Raytown South High School where he averaged 13.6 points and 9.8 rebounds as a sophomore. He then transferred to Montrose Christian School in Rockville, Maryland where he played for legendary high school head coach Stu Vetter and averaged 8.8 points, 9.1 rebounds and 8.2 assists as a senior. In 2013, he committed to play college basketball for Baylor and started the first seven games of his freshman year before being relegated to a reserve role. He would average just over nine minutes and fewer than two points and rebounds per game during his first two seasons. Wainright made a larger all-around impact while starting in all 34 games in both of his next two seasons as he averaged 5.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.7 steals and was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team in his senior season. With his college basketball career over, Wainright decided to switch sports at Baylor and played tight end for one season on the school's football team, finishing with four catches for 34 yards and two touchdowns. He then signed as an undrafted free agent with the Buffalo Bills of the NFL but did not make the team's final roster. In September of 2018, Wainright picked his basketball career back up and signed a contract to play with Nürnberg Falcons BC of the ProA -- the second division of German professional basketball -- and averaged 12.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists in the 2018-19 season. He would spend two more seasons playing internationally between the German and French clubs Rasta Vechta and SIG Strasbourg. In August of 2021, Wainright signed with the Toronto Raptors but was eventually waived by the team in October. Less than a week later, he signed a two-way contract to play with the Phoenix Suns and made his NBA debut on November 19, 2021. Fans can follow Wainright on Twitter @Wainright24.