WITH the start of the Hotondo Homes Ballarat Miners 2020 campaign just under two months away, the squad\u2019s roster is becoming increasingly clear with three more names added to the team\u2019s list.<\/p>\n
American import Jalen Billups, Ross Weightman and Blake Allison have all put pen to paper, and head coach Brendan Joyce couldn\u2019t be happier.<\/p>\n
\u201cJalen performed great for the Southern Huskies in Hobart last season,\u201d he said. \u201cJalen 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery excited to just come out there meet all the guys and compete at a high level, and importantly win,\u201d Billups said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m coming out here to build relationships with them and we all want individual goals but we\u2019re here to win a championship, so definitely excited for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019 Big V Youth League Champ Division side.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Also at 190cm, Allison had five starts for the big club playing just under five minutes per game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WITH the start of the Hotondo Homes Ballarat Miners 2020 campaign just under two months away, the squad\u2019s roster is becoming increasingly clear with three more names added to the team\u2019s list. American import Jalen Billups, Ross Weightman and Blake Allison have all put pen to paper, and head coach Brendan Joyce couldn\u2019t be happier. […]<\/p>\n