BeeGee
Years ago
Tamuri Wigness Joins Bullets
The Brisbane Bullets have made another key addition to their roster for the 2020/21 Hungry Jack's NBL season, signing talented Australian youngster Tamuri Wigness.
Wigness has been a member of the NBA Global Academy in Canberra for the last three years and is currently in Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence. He also played for the Bullets at last year’s NBL Blitz in Tasmania.
The 18-year-old Torres Strait Islander played junior basketball in Cairns and has enjoyed a celebrated junior career. He featured at the past two Basketball Without Borders Global Camps at NBA All-Star Weekend and made the All-Tournament Team in 2019.
Wigness also represented Australia at the 2019 Under 17 FIBA Oceania Championship, where he made All-Star Five, and the 2019 Under 19 FIBA World Cup.
He played for Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence in the 2019 NBL1 season, averaging 11.7 points, 4.0 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game, including a 22-point, 12-assist double-double in his final appearance of the year.
Bullets Head Coach Andrej Lemanis said: "To be able to add a young player of Tamuri’s talent level is testament to what we have built at the club.
“Tamuri had many options available to him and the significance of the trust he has placed in us to help with his continued growth as a player and person is not lost on us. We are proud of our ability to help players grow, develop and ultimately attain the goals they have set for themselves.
“Tamuri spent part of the last year’s pre-season with us and showed that he will be able to step in and compete at this level immediately, which is impressive for an 18-year-old. We have experienced his disruptive defensive ability first hand and that fits nicely with who we are as a team.
“He has great pace, can get in the lane and is a great creator for others - he is someone that others enjoy playing with. Just as importantly, he is a great person that understands how teams need to function to be successful. Throw in his competitive spirit and I think he will quickly become a favourite of the fans."
Wigness said: “I’ve been really excited to come up and start. I can’t wait to get up there, start working and be ready for the season. I’m more comfortable with them and the preseason Blitz went perfectly. Everything fell into place and it made the decision a lot easier.”
Wigness joins Harry Froling, Matt Hodgson, Will Magnay, Anthony Drmic, Jason Cadee, Nathan Sobey, Tyrell Harrison and Tanner Krebs on the Bullets roster for the 2020/21 season.
Lemanis said: “Another achievement for us to be proud of as a club is that we now have five Bullets players or 50 per cent of the roster, that have developed through the Basketball Queensland pathway.
“When we re-entered the league four years ago, we wanted to ensure that the team was well represented by Queensland talent – not just because they are from Queensland, but because they are good enough to compete at NBL level.
“It’s a credit to all involved in the Queensland basketball pathway that we have now been able to deliver on that goal.
“This is a team that all Queenslanders can relate to and should be proud of. Giving the next junior player the inspiration to, and knowledge that he can, play in the NBL in his home state is pretty cool.”
