Jeremiah Trueman

Jeremiah Kloeten Trueman (born 19 May 1987) is a New Zealand professional basketball player.

Trueman spent his childhood in Brazil where his parents worked as Christian missionaries, only returning to Stratford when Jeremiah was 13 years old. It was only then that he took up basketball, having played football while a child in Brazil.

Trueman quickly developed as a basketballer. He was selected for the Nelson Giants National Basketball League team in 2004 while still a student at Nelson College, which he attended from 2004–2005. Giants coach Nenad Vucinic saw Trueman's potential and chose to develop him as a power forward rather than import a better player for the position. Trueman didn't disappoint, receiving the Giants’ Rookie of the Year Award for his performance in the 2004 season.

In December 2004, Trueman was selected for a New Zealand Secondary School side to play its Australian counterpart in Auckland, giving a stand-out performance. In January 2005, he was selected for the Junior Tall Blacks to attend the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney, and scored 14 points in the 90-59 loss to Australia in the final. He again represented the Junior team at the San Diego International Invitational Tournament in June, where the side finished 5th place overall. Trueman took up a scholarship with San Diego Christian College around the same time, and in the 2005–06 season helped the college basketball team to a second-place finish in the Golden State Athletic Conference.

In July 2006, Trueman was a surprise selection for the Tall Blacks team to play Australia, due largely to the unavailability of Dillon Boucher and veterans Sean Marks and Ed Book. He made a brief but sturdy appearance in the 12 July game at Napier, satisfactorily marking renowned Australian basketballer Andrew Bogut. Trueman missed out on selection for the 12-man squad to tour Australia and South America, although ironically fluent in both Spanish and Portuguese.

In the summer of 2007, Trueman transferred from San Diego Christian to play NCAA Div. II basketball for the University of Alaska Anchorage. As a junior at UAA in 2007–08, he was the top post reserve for a Seawolf team that posted the best record in school history (29-6), won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, and advanced to the NCAA Semifinals. He led the squad with a .618 FG% and was the team's 5th-leading scorer (5.5 ppg) and rebounder (2.8 rpg). As a senior in 2008–09, Trueman earned Team MVP honors and was an All-GNAC honorable mention selection, averaging 15.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He also led the team in field-goal percentage (.597), free-throw percentage (.870), and blocks per game (1.0), and he was the only player in NCAA Div. II to rank in the top 25 of the national stats in both FG% and FT%.

In July 2009, Trueman signed with the New Zealand Breakers for the 2009–10 NBL season. Following the conclusion of the ANBL season, he joined the Taranaki Mountainairs for the 2010 New Zealand NBL season.

In May 2010, he signed a two-year deal with the Perth Wildcats. Following the conclusion of the ANBL season, he joined the Manawatu Jets for the 2011 New Zealand NBL season. He re-joined the Jets for the 2012 New Zealand NBL season as well.

On 18 May 2012, he re-signed with the Wildcats for the 2012–13 NBL season. Following the conclusion of the ANBL season, he re-joined the Manawatu Jets for the 2013 New Zealand NBL season.

On 6 June 2013, Trueman signed a two-year deal with the New Zealand Breakers. On 28 October 2013, he was waived by the Breakers in order for them to sign Gary Wilkinson.

In November 2013, he re-signed with the Manawatu Jets for the 2014 New Zealand NBL season.

On 23 January 2014, he re-signed with the Perth Wildcats as a short-term injury replacement for Matthew Knight. After 2 games for the Wildcats, he returned to New Zealand.

After spending the off-season in the United States with his family, and playing for the San Diego Surf of the ABA, on 20 February 2015, he re-signed with the Manawatu Jets for the 2015 New Zealand NBL season, returning to the club for a fifth stint. However, following a dismal season for the Jets in 2015, the team pulled out of the 2016 season.

Trueman and his wife, Mary, have three children and plan on moving back to the United States (his wife's home country) in the near future.