DEWAYNE DEDMON

A Lancaster native, Dewayne Demon found his way to Antelope Valley College after attending Lancaster High School.

Dedmon, a 7-foot, 225-pound center, didn't begin playing organized basketball until he turned 18. But once he began playing during his senior year at Lancaster High, he developed what scouts and coaches called a unique love for the game combined with an enormous willingness to get better.

As a freshman at Antelope Valley in 2009–10, Dedmon helped the Marauders to a 17–14 record while averaging 6.6 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. He also had 46 blocks and tied the school record with seven blocks against Chaffey College on January 22, 2010. An injury forced Dedmon to miss the final seven regular-season games, but he returned for the playoffs, where he recorded 5 points and 13 rebounds in his first game back, a win against Miramar College.

Dedmon went on to play for the University of Southern California under coach Kevin O'Neill. There, he battled numerous injuries as a sophomore, which curtailed his development, but he still managed to average 7.6 points and 5.5 rebounds in 20 games (all starts). He led the team with a .551 shooting percentage and made 50 percent or more of his shots in 14 of his 20 starts. As a junior for USC in 2012–13, Dedmon led the Trojans with 7.0 rebounds to go with 6.7 points in 31 games (29 starts). Dedmon then had the best stretch of his career toward the beginning of USC's conference slate, averaging 10.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, and three blocks per game in a five-game stretch. He tied his career-high of 18 points against Washington.

Dedmon went on to play for seven NBA teams: the Golden State Warriors (2013), Philadelphia 76ers (2014, 2023), Orlando Magic (2014–2016), San Antonio Spurs (2016–2017), Atlanta Hawks (2017–2019, 2020), Sacramento Kings (2019–2020), Miami Heat (2021–2023). He had a career-high average of 10.8 PPG with the Hawks in 2018-19 and 8.23 RPG with them in 2019-20. He was an NBA D-League All-Star in 2014.

Dewayne loves working with kids and has held numerous youth camps at AVC and in the Antelope Valley community.