	{"id":120362,"date":"2026-03-10T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=120362"},"modified":"2026-03-06T01:16:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T14:16:42","slug":"miners-unveil-canadian-import-as-club-legend-returns-as-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/sport\/miners-unveil-canadian-import-as-club-legend-returns-as-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"Miners unveil Canadian import as club legend returns as coach"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A MEMBER of Team Canada&#8217;s training squad ahead of last year&#8217;s FIBA AmeriCup qualifiers, Jaden Campbell has signed with Ballarat Miners for the 2026 NBL1 South season.<\/p>\n<p>The 6&#8217;5&#8243; guard arrives in Ballarat following a stint in the Czech NBL, where he averaged 16.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.1 steals in 29.8 minutes across 38 games for USK Praha.<\/p>\n<p>An impressive resume includes a stint in the NBA Summer League last year with New York Knicks, where he impressed with his floor spacing and energy off the bench.<\/p>\n<p>Campbell played college basketball at Florida Southwestern and Samford University, in Alabama, before beginning his professional career with the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the CEBL.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to his professional club experience, Campbell earned a spot on Team Canada&#8217;s senior men&#8217;s national team training camp roster ahead of the FIBA AmeriCup.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement released last week, the Miners said Campbell would bring a wealth of experience and talent to the roster, providing scoring, playmaking and defensive ability while also contributing leadership and consistency to strengthen the team across all areas of the floor.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30038\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30038\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30038 \" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/03\/Eric-Hayes-1536x1023_27047.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"427\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Miners legend Eric Hayes will coach the club&#8217;s VJBL under-20 men&#8217;s team.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This signing marks the first import addition to the men&#8217;s roster ahead of an exciting 2026 NBL1 South season,&#8221; the club said.<\/p>\n<p>The Miners, under the guidance of Australian basketball legend Ray Borner, will open their campaign on 28 March against arch-rival Bendigo Braves at Selkirk Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>In other Miners news, club legend Eric Hayes has made a welcome return to the club as coach of the Miners&#8217; Victorian Junior Basketball League under-20 men&#8217;s team.<\/p>\n<p>Their entry into the strong VJBL competition comes in response to strong player numbers and continued growth within the program.<\/p>\n<p>The squad features a talented and committed group of young athletes, giving them an opportunity to compete strongly at a high level while continuing their progression within the Miners program.<\/p>\n<p>Hayes, whose coaching resume includes stints within the Ballarat representative junior program, Youth League and Miners men&#8217;s and women&#8217;s teams, is the club&#8217;s all-time games played leader.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A MEMBER of Team Canada&#8217;s training squad ahead of last year&#8217;s FIBA AmeriCup qualifiers, Jaden Campbell has signed with Ballarat Miners for the 2026 NBL1 South season. The 6&#8217;5&#8243; guard arrives in Ballarat following a stint in the Czech NBL, where he averaged 16.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.1 steals in 29.8 minutes [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/sport\/miners-unveil-canadian-import-as-club-legend-returns-as-coach\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":240,"featured_media":120366,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-120362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Miners unveil Canadian import as club legend returns as coach - 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