Miners make a move down south

NEW National Basketball League side, the Tasmania JackJumpers, has recruited two players from the Hotondo Homes Ballarat Miners.

Matt Kenyon and Jock Perry will make the move to Tassie to take up with the freshman club when the current NBL1 South competition wraps up.

“I am extremely excited to join The JackJumpers for this next NBL season. It has been a crazy journey to get back here after being in the league when I was 18, and I couldn’t be happier to sign with Tassie,” Kenyon said.

“Scott Roth [JackJumpers’ coach] called me… in the free-agency period and said I was on his radar, and he was going to keep watching my NBL1 games, so I was always speaking to Tassie; they showed some interest early.”

A 196-centimetre-tall shooting guard, Kenyon said the stop-start COVID-impacted competition has been challenging, but he has enjoyed his time with Ballarat Basketball, following a stint of college basketball in the United States with UC Riverside.

“I love the group we have here, and it’s been a lot of fun learning from Brendan Joyce,” he said.

Perry, who played NCAA with Saint Mary’s College out of Moraga, California, said Joyce also “pushed” him to improve and reach his goal of joining the NBL.

“I’ve loved my time in Ballarat. Being able to play in front of my family every week was special, especially my nan who’s lived in Ballarat her whole life and hasn’t seen me play since I moved to America,” Perry said.

“I’m really looking forward to finishing this season off right and hope to see all the fans back in the stadium soon.”