Strawther played basketball for Liberty High School in Henderson, Nevada.[1] As a junior, he averaged 27.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.[2] In his senior season, he averaged 31.5 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, earning Southeast League co-MVP honors.[3] Strawther scored 51 points against Apollo High School at the HoopHall West Invitational, setting an event record.[4] He left as his school's all-time leader in points and rebounds.[5] A consensus four-star recruit, he committed to playing college basketball for Gonzaga over offers from Marquette, Florida and UNLV.[6]
College career
As a freshman at Gonzaga, Strawther averaged 3.4 points per game, serving as the backup to Corey Kispert. His team reached the national championship game.[7] On November 15, 2021, he scored 18 points in an 84–57 win over Alcorn State.[8] As a sophomore, Strawther averaged 11.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. He declared for the 2022 NBA draft following the season before ultimately returning to Gonzaga.[9]
On January 28, 2023, Strawther scored a career-high 40 points in an 82–67 victory over Portland.[10] In the 2023 NCAA tournament against UCLA, he made a 35-foot (11 m) basket for the lead with six seconds remaining, and Gonzaga held on for the win to advance to the quarterfinals.[11]
National team career
Although a native of Las Vegas, Strawther represents Puerto Rico at the international level due to his mother's Puerto Rican ancestry.[12] At the 2019 FIBA Under-19 World Cup, he averaged 22 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, helping his team finish in sixth place. He recorded 40 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in a loss to Russia in the fifth-place game.[13]
Strawther was nine years old when his mother, Lourdes, died from breast cancer.[14] His older sister, Paris, played college basketball for UNLV.[15] Strawther's paternal grandfather, Edward, was a lieutenant colonel who served in World War II, and formed the Las Vegas Sentinel, one of two African-American newspapers in Nevada.[12]