Three more down for the Miners

WITH the start of the Hotondo Homes Ballarat Miners 2020 campaign just under two months away, the squad’s roster is becoming increasingly clear with three more names added to the team’s list.

American import Jalen Billups, Ross Weightman and Blake Allison have all put pen to paper, and head coach Brendan Joyce couldn’t be happier.

“Jalen performed great for the Southern Huskies in Hobart last season,” he said. “Jalen knows our league and is familiar with a lot of the players which makes it a smoother transition for himself, our team and the NBL1 South.

“Both Ross and Blake will continue to play youth league and be a part of our NBL1 Squad. Both players have continued to display a strong work ethic during training and are quality people. They play important roles as a part of our NBL1 squad and especially adding experience as two of the main players for our youth league team for 2020.”

Billups is a 27-year-old, 200cm tall power forward from Cincinnati, Ohio. He played collage ball for NCAA Div 1 Northern Kentucky University and spent time in Scotland with the Glasgow Rocks as well as teams in Western Australia.

He played last season for the Hobart based Southern Huskies in the New Zealand National Basketball League, as that club looked break into the NBL.

“Very excited to just come out there meet all the guys and compete at a high level, and importantly win,” Billups said.

“I’m coming out here to build relationships with them and we all want individual goals but we’re here to win a championship, so definitely excited for that.”

As Joyce suggested, Weightman and Allison, who are both guards, will be key pieces in the Miners development squad. Both players won a championship last year with the Miners’ Big V Youth League Champ Division side.

At 190cm tall, Weightman got a few looks in the NBL1 2019, running on for 16 games and averaging 7.5 minutes of court time per outing.

Also at 190cm, Allison had five starts for the big club playing just under five minutes per game.