Hoops

Best junior development

A number of the so-called "elite" clubs have in my view mediocre programs but are in the fortunate position of attracting the best talent because of the reputation generated by the success of yesteryear. Hawthorn, Bulleen and Knox come to mind. Clubs like McKinnon, Kilsyth, Chelsea and Ringwood have excellent programs but unfortunately can't break the cycle of the best talent always heading to the 'historically' best clubs.

Sorry. Cut and paste nd missed a few. Correct and Seekamp now WNBA with Mercury I think and possibly will get a national call up.

Missed

Brett Maher
Laura Summerton Hodges

Of the olympians list there.

Sturt Juniors that played NBLand/or development player
Jason Joynes
Brad Hill
Oscar Foreman
Jacob Holmes
Adam Doyle
Corey Maynard
Tom and Sam Daly
Drew Williamson
Jordan Dodman
Brett Maher
Jason Willians
Paul Bauer
Leigh Carlson
Jarred Wilson
Graham Kubank
Martin Barmentloo
Mathew Reece
Darren Breeding
Matthew Buck
Dean Kinsman
Andy Amberg
Karl Luke
Malcom Penno
Ian Kneebone
Mark Sykes
Paul Hyland
David Smyth

WNBL
Nicole Seekamp
Ruby Porter
Angela Marino
Laura Hodges Summerton
Bree Farley
Emma Langford
Hannah, Monique & Bridget Bowley
Caroline Nixon
Tammy Hoare
Cherie Hogg
Jane Bell
Pat Mickan
Fiona Gliddon
Leanne Mickan Winter
Deb Smyth

AIS CoE Scholarship Holders
Centre of Excellence Scholarship Holders
Elissa Brett
Alex Mudronja

Australian Institute of Sport Scholarship Holders
Lat Maye
Nicole Seekamp
Bree Farley
Claybrin McMath
Emma Langford
Jacob Holmes
Oscar Forman
Laura Summerton
Monique Bowley
Tammy Hoare
Leigh Carlson
Jared Wilson
Martin Barmentloo
Brett Maher
Cherie Hogg
Matthew Reece
Fiona Gliddon
Graham Kubank
Matthew Buck
Karl Luke

Assistant national women’s coach
Scott Butler

NCAA colleges Div 1/2 TBA














Olympians
Angela Marino
John and Malcom Heard
Phil Smyth
Pat Mickan
Albert Leslie

Sam Daly
There are more girls but I can’t think of the names right now but from Sturt and yes Gordon left Sturt at 18’s and Doyle I think around the same or maybe younger. I’ll go through and have a think as there is definitely more.

I think you will find both;

Adam Doyle
Juliet Gordon

Both played a majority of their Basketball at Sturt.

Plus you are missing players who have played D1 ball, NBL and WNBL as well as olympics Over the past 10 years

Ie Laura Sunnerton
Jacob Holmes
Corey Maynard
Oscar Foreman
Emma Langford
Jess McPhail
Brew Farley
Monique Bowles
Caroline Nixon
Brett Maher
Claybrin McMath
Tom Daly

Good work.

Add Ben Carter to NCAA Div 1.

Boys D1
VIC 21
NSW 25
QLD 4
SA 9
WA 2
ACT 2
TAS 1

Boys D1/Pro by club

Sturt 6
Forestville 3
Norwood 3
Centrals 1
Southern 1
Eastern 1

I think D1 NCAA shows a good indicator of current trends, as pro players have done a lot of development beyond their club and it also is a very lagging indicator.

With the current U18 team at Sturt for example the recent upswing trend in player development definately does not seem like abating.

Likewise with the Forestville girls. A bunch of D1 girls starting college this coming season too.

some of those above have been at more than one club.

Righto ill bite, don't think sturt has been all that great at producing athletes. In fact the state as a hole is well down. As best I can gather from the website pickandroll. Not sure how this will post andI am bound to get some of the junior clubs wrong, or missing transfers between clubs:

Professional Players - as best I can guess (not counting NBL DP)
Abby Bishop Forestville / North Adelaide
Adam Doyle Forestville
Alex Ciabattoni Forestville
Ben Madgen Eastern
Brad Newley Forestville
Cayla George Eastern
Chelsea Brook Norwood
Joe Ingles Southern
Lauren Mansfield North
Majok Deng Forestville
Nicole Romeo Norwood
Nicole Seekamp Sturt
Peter Hooley Norwood
Steph Talbot Forestville
Tess Madgen Eastern

NCAA Div 1 Womens
Alek Akuen North
Darcy Rees Forestville
Jade Johnson Forestville
Juliet Gordon Forestville
Morgan Yaeger Forestville
Nicola matthews Sturt
Sam Simons Forestville
Taylor Ortlepp Norwood


NCAA Div 1 Mens
Alex Mudronja Sturt
Brent Hank Centrals
Isaac White Sturt
Jacob Rigoni Sturt
Jordan Heading Sturt
Lat Mayen Sturt
Owne Hulland Norwood
Uche Dibiamaka Norwood


Total Junior club NCAA Div 1 and professional players:

Forestville 11
Sturt 7
Norwood 6
North 3
Eastern 3
North 2
Centrals 1
Southern 1

Interesting point to note with NCAA Div 1 broken down by state:
Boys Girls Total
VIC 21 31 52
NSW 25 16 41
QLD 4 16 20
SA 8 8 16
WA 2 7 9
ACT 2 1 3
TAS 1 1 2

Sturt have the largest numbers of Australian talent in NCAA div 1 women’s and men’s conferences. Speaks volumes that their program has the right formula. Not a few players here and there to boast about but a constant flow of players moving from the club into good colleges, nbl development, overseas and spread across the basketball world at all levels. Every year they can put forward a list that celebrates their success beyond their club. That is rare and sits them within the top 4 clubs in Australia on paper over a long period of time. Every club has anomalies of success that are not reflective of their overall programs success and often that is to do with player size being a huge advantage, but that can not be what a club rides upon to determine their success. It’s the year in year out success across the entire club that is important and what they give back to basketball nationally and internationally. A clubs role like parents raising kids is to let their players progress beyond their community and deliver smart, fit, experienced players that can fit in to teams across the world and adapt to different competitions and coaching styles.

There it is. Always the kids and never the coaches fault. That’s the difference between success and mediocre results. Adults need to reflect and educate themselves to do better and not blame the kids and their lack of talent. I have seen clubs take an average talented group and with good game structure, hard work and constant evaluation and improvements supporting the kids above all else they have won and rose to the top. I have also seen a group of extremely talented kids constantly falter under so called great coaches that have not been able to get the best out of the kids and change nothing about their coaching and game style to help that talent come together to succeed. The difference between a good and a great club is not the perceived friendships but well thought out structure, planning and constant improvement through review and accountability. It is fluid and always evolving. Never blaming the kids.

I think a key criteria that has been omitted is the ability of the club to develop players outside of their 1s and 2s. Most clubs have excellent coaches, and programs in place, for these but what about the player in the, say, 4ths, that with quality coaching can go a long way?

A number of clubs allegedly at the top, really couldn't care less about players beyond the 2s, however other clubs including second tier clubs have a great record developing players in the lower teams.

Mavericks girls are passable with some OK teams propped up by Country kids but the boys program is a disaster zone! Either bottom or second to bottom in each grade currently with an on-going trend of departures of the more talented kids to other clubs who offer a lot more for the fees.

Nice friendly club but needs immediate action to help develop and then RETAIN their players for the future.

Centrals have a part part time coaching director, no experience, doesn't seem to have a handle on things. Ricky is there with his academy but only official capacity is as senior coach.
Here in a new was shown the door at woodville as women's coach and Jdo, was a disaster apparently.
Corey was supposed to oversee things at West, not sure if that's still the case. Girls side of things are excellent, boys are terrible.
Eastern, who has any idea what they do, some decent girls teams but boys all over the place, reflective in their senior programmes.
Sturt and north are way ahead. Norwood despite their abundance of teams are ho hum, will be interesting to see what goes on with departure of Willie and appointment of Rojo.
Southern have great structure of coaches, just not great talent. South have plenty of kids, just that most aren't that good.

Any club with a full time coaching director should be heaps ahead, but some are not because some coaching directors don't understand junior development. Some do.

How do you qualify this as well? NBL/WNBL players? Classic results? A lot of ways to determine this. Some clubs being listed here aren't even close to achieving decent results at those levels.

Glenelg/Noarlunga/Southern girls of note

Julie Nykiel
Jenny Cheeseman
Michelle Brogan

Brogan def started club juniors there, my Dad recruited her from a Primary school comp/carnival or something. The other 2 played as seniors so long I’m guessing they were local juniors.

I think for SA any club with a full-time employee (Coaching Director) should be streaks ahead. Sturt, Norwood, Forestville, Southern & South (half the comp) have full time designated Coaching Directors.

Not Full time

North Adelaide share the position and the two gentlemen put in the equivalent of one full timer.
Centrals - Was Ricky Simpson along with his Northern Academy program, so decent pathway and development system.

Woodville - Scott Herriman is the JDO but unsure at what capacity this is?
West Adelaide - Do it by committee led by Andrew Nowak who has been involved with the club for about a decade.

Eastern - The website says Karen Williams but I am unsure of her credentials as a coach and how long she has been involved? May be a voluntary role.

Maybe not the most, but Horsham in country Vic.
Small little country club, has produced:
2 x Bruce Brothers
Mitch Creek
Shane McDonald

2 of those guys have represented Aus. (A.Bruce & Creek).
Pound for pound, that's a pretty good effort.

I think we need actual statistics to work this out. Not just uninformed guess work

Boys
North
Sturt
Norwood
Centrals
Southern
Forestville
West
Eastern
South
Woodville

Girls
Forestville
Sturt
West
South
Norwood
Southern
North
Eastern
Centrals
Woodville

Whoever is coming up with these rankings may need to do a little more homework...

SA BOYS
Sturt
North
Forestville
Norwood
West
South
Woodville
Southern
Centrals
Eastern

SA GIRLS
Forestville
Sturt
West
Norwood
North
Southern
Eastern
South
Centrals
Woodville

Bradtke moved to Adelaide from Qld.

That’s what we were told at the time.

Here is an ofter overlooked fact for you...

There have been only 3 players from South Australia that have played or are playing in the NBA.

ALL of them came from the Noarlunga come Southern Tigers as juniors:

Joe Ingles
Luke Schencher
Mark Bradtke

Warwick Meehl - there’s a name from the past. Known as ‘Ice man’ when he played for NZ, deadly 3-point shooter and exciting to watch, a bit like CG43 but without the attitude and posturing. (And longer hair, from memory.)

His dad Bill was a good coach too.

The exMaroochydore Clippers, now the Sunshine Coast Phoenix, had a dream run of 3 successive U18Boys state championships, 2 coached by Warrick Meehl followed by Verne Robiteau's team. Incidentally, From those teams, there are 13 or 14 players still playing semi-pro ball, most of them in the QBL. Don't ask why they don't all get together under Warrick & Verne, add a couple of imports, and take on the world (that's the QBL). There is no sensible answer for that one!

For a small association, they also turned out a number of elite ballers (played NBL at least). Some names that I remember are Brad Davidson, Jae Kingi, Brad Newley, Craig Irvine, Julie Stringer, Brad Williamson, Scott kenny, Isaih Tueta.

Not too shabby for a small association with members' numbers being only in the hundreds.

Hawthorn has been really good the past few years.

VIC
Dandenong
Knox
Eltham
Kilsyth
Nunawading

NSW
North Sydney
Sydney
Illawarra
Hills
Bankstown

SA
Sturt
North
South
F'ville

WA
Willetton
Perry Lakes
Rockingham
Joondalup

Sorry, looking at keeping to SA mainly. In terms of nbl players, is it mainly talent and individual desire, or a result of club development. An athletic 7 footer will always have a shot at next level. I'm talking about producing across the board players and coaches that have complete fundamentals and knowledge. And larger clubs will have the numbers to get the better athletes.
Maybe an example is like the Gonzaga and Villanova programs. They are getting the talent now, but for a long time they have taken the big boys on with lesser talent. So did Brad Stevens at Butler and early Celtics.

Nunawading Spectres.

Easy to figure the best out- which one has turned out the most nbl quality or better players over recent years?

Would it be worth any team giving Julius another crack? He may have matured a lot since his early days out here.