Isaiah Piñeiro (born February 2, 1995) is a Puerto Rican professional basketball player for Mersin MSK of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL) and the Puerto Rican national team.[1] Standing at a height of 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m), he plays the small forward and power forward positions.
Piñeiro was born in Auburn, California, United States to parents of Puerto Rican descent.[2] Piñeiro attended Placer High School, where he played both football and basketball. In football, Piñeiro was the team's defensive MVP and earned All-League and All-State honors. In basketball, he was a two-time team MVP and earned All-League and All-Section honors. And won MVP on Master Tournament at Turabo Heights[3]
Piñeiro began his collegiate career with Sierra College, where he averaged 15.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game as a freshman.[3] He then transferred to Portland State, where he played all 31 games in his sophomore season averaging 12.0 points and 5.5 rebounds, while shooting 50.7 from the field and 76.3 from the free throw line.[4]
Piñeiro sat out the 2016–17 season after being transferred to San Diego. In his redshirt junior year, Piñeiro earned First-team All-WCC honors as he led the team in scoring (15.7 ppg) and rebounding (6.2 rpg), while averaging 49.1 from the field and 78.3 from the free throw line.[3] In his redshirt senior year, Piñeiro earned another First-team All-WCC as he became the all-time leader in single-season points (677 points), field goals made (232), and games played (36).[3]
After going undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft, Piñeiro was named a member of the Sacramento Kings for the 2019 NBA Summer League season.[5] Over 5 games, he averaged 4.6 points in 14 minutes per game.[6]
On July 30, 2019, Piñeiro signed with the Sacramento Kings, a reported one-year partially guaranteed contract.[7][8] On October 11, 2019, Piñeiro was waived by the Kings[9] but was ultimately signed to their NBA G League affiliate, the Stockton Kings. On December 15, 2019, Piñeiro tallied 24 points, 16 rebounds and six steals in a victory over the South Bay Lakers.[10] He averaged 9.6 points and 5 rebounds per game.
On August 5, 2020, Piñeiro signed with VEF Rīga of the užavas kauss.[11]
On June 28, 2021, he has signed with Darüşşafaka Tekfen of the Basketball Super League.[12]
On July 24, 2024, he signed with Mersin MSK of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL).[13]
Piñeiro was named in the preliminary 17-man roster of Puerto Rico for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.[1] On August, 28, 2019, it was announced that Piñeiro had made the Puerto Rican squad for the tournament.[14]
On August 31, 2019, Piñeiro made his debut for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.