STAR import Joy Burke is heading back to Ballarat for another season after resigning with the Rush for 2019.<\/p>\n
It\u2019ll be the fourth time he nearly twometer tall centre, who\u2019s also a Chinese Taipei National squad member has played for Ballarat\u2019s elite women\u2019s team.<\/p>\n
Bourke said she was looking forward to hitting the boards at the Rush\u2019s new stadium and learning from recently appointed director of coaching Brendan Joyce.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel incredibly grateful to the Ballarat Basketball community for another opportunity to play for the Rush,\u201d Bourke said.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, I\u2019ve decided to return to the Rush for another season because I love the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to some of the exciting opportunities this next season brings with the new league, new basketball stadium, and getting to learn from Brendan Joyce.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrendan\u2019s decorated coaching experience speaks for itself, especially on the international level, and I believe he along with Eric Hayes will greatly benefit our team as well as help my game improve tremendously.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rush head coach Eric Hayes was overjoyed with the resigning.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is great for the Rush to retain Joy, there are not many 196cm players in the competition, so she is a key player for us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJoy finished last season strongly and we will be looking to build on that in 2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bourke\u2019s numbers last season were impressive.<\/p>\n
She put in 29 minutes per game on court while also averaging a double, double with 14.1 points and 11.65 rebounds.<\/p>\n
Her effort under the hoop meant she was the league leading rebounder pulling down 233 of them for the season, seven more than Nadeen Payne who played in four more games than Burke.<\/p>\n
Basketball Ballarat is yet to determine if Burke will play under her American or Chinese name, Hsi-Le Bao, with the new Basketball Victoria Elite League finalising their rules around the number of imports and where they are born.<\/p>\n
Burke will return to Australia in early February at which time she\u2019ll resume her community ambassador role before the new Basketball Victoria Elite League, which commences at the end of March.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
STAR import Joy Burke is heading back to Ballarat for another season after resigning with the Rush for 2019. It\u2019ll be the fourth time he nearly twometer tall centre, who\u2019s also a Chinese Taipei National squad member has played for Ballarat\u2019s elite women\u2019s team. Bourke said she was looking forward to hitting the boards at […]<\/p>\n