ASB Young Sportsperson of the Year 1991-2014: Jack Salt

Jack Salt. Photo / Dean Purcell

Each week until the annual ASB YSPOTY awards dinner in November, we will profile past winners as we count down to the 25th annual event which honours the top young college sportspeople in the region.

Jack Salt (Westlake BHS) 2013

It is just two years since Jack Salt's red-letter sporting year of 2013.

The only question is what he did not do for the Westlake basketball premier side, which won the national title. Salt was, incredibly, the third Westlake supreme ASB Awards winner out of basketball in just five years, following in the footsteps of Rob Loe (2009) and Tai Webster (2012). He averaged 18.9 points and 14.8 rebounds per game and won Westlake's Arblaster Cup for sports personality of the year.

"I really enjoyed my last year at Westlake. Captaining the basketball and volleyball team in 2013 was a great experience. Being able to finish by winning the national title in basketball really topped my time at Westlake off," said Salt, now 19.

He recalls the awards night clearly.

"I was honoured to just be at the event, to be in a room full of the future of New Zealand's sports was really special. I didn't know Rob, but have played with Tai before. He did what I wanted to do, which was to play basketball at an American university. It was awesome to be able to follow in the footsteps of Tai."

Salt's career highlight, thus far, was winning the call-up to tour China with the Tall Blacks in 2013, followed by the Oceania series against Australia.

After stints with the Breakers in the ANBL and the Waikato Pistons in the NBL, Salt is now a freshman at Charlottesville with the Virginia Cavaliers, playing college ball.

"I love it over there, the coach and team are awesome. I can't wait to get back and get ready for the season.

"Studies are going well too, still not sure what I want to study yet so just doing a wide range of subjects to see what I like.

"I'm hoping to get a degree from the University of Virginia then go on to play professional basketball," he said.