BIO: Ebi Ere was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma (USA) and attended McLain High School and played two seasons of junior college basketball for Barton Community College.

He then played two seasons of Division I college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners between 2001 and 2003.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Ebi Ere made his NBL debut with the Sydney Kings at 22 years of age. He scored 25 points in his first game.

After winning the 2003 NBL championship, team captain Shane Heal chose to retire from basketball. Strangely enough, while retired Heal was offered a contract to play with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs, which he accepted. CJ Bruton was signed as Heal’s replacement for Kings as the looked to rebuild the roster for a chance at back to back titles. With the Kings losing both imports Chris Williams and Kavossy Franklin to bigger deals overseas, Ere was signed, and instead of finding a second import, coach Brian Goorjian added Jason Smith, who had just returned from Europe, and Brett Wheeler, who had both played for Goorjian whilst with the Victoria Titans.

With only one import, this allowed up-and-coming talent, Matthew Neilsen (22.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.0 steal, and 2.5 blocks), to deliver a breakout season and alongside Bruton (16.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists) and Ere (19.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.2 steals) that propelled the Kings’ to back-to-back championships.

The team began the season scorching hot, winning ten straight games before losing Smith (11.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.1 steals) when he suffered a season-ending injury. Unable to return, Goorjian would replace him with import Chris Carrawell (13.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.3 steals), who played out the team’s last 11 regular season games.

Sydney would finish first place finish in the regular season with a 26-7 record and go on to win their second championship after their best-of-five grand final series with crosstown rivals West Sydney Razorbacks went down to the deciding fifth game. Nielsen would win the regular season and finals MVP in 2003/04 before leaving to play overseas.

2006/07
BRISBANE BULLETS
2006/07 – THE GREATEST NBL TEAM OF ALL-TIME?
Brisbane continued to develop its roster in 2007, adding the country’s best backcourt player in CJ Bruton (via Sydney) to the existing combo of two of Australia’s greatest frontcourt talents, Sam MacKinnon and Mark Bradtke. Signing Bruton also led to the Bullets moving on from long-term import duo Derek Rucker and Bobby Brannen. Ere, Bruton’s backcourt partner for the Kings championship in 2004, and do-it-all forward Dusty Rychart (via Adelaide) were signed as import replacements and, with the roster having a number of scoring options, chose not to re-sign Lanard Copeland (to Adelaide) and Daniel Egan (to Townsville) and brought in defensive stopper Dillon Boucher (via Perth) who Bullets front office felt was responsible for the Wildcats eliminating the team from the playoffs the previous season, after shutting down leading scorer Stephen Black.

The Bullets began the season by winning the NBL Preseason Blitz (Coffs Harbour), with Bruton being named MVP of the tournament. In contrast, Brisbane began the regular season with a largely indifferent record (3-3), which by the season’s mid-way point was a respectable, but not at all earth-shattering 10 wins and 5 losses. Reigning champions Melbourne (11-4) sat on top of the ladder, although Brisbane had managed to defeat them in their first matchup of the season (98-85). From here, the Bullets reached a level that has many considering this team to be the greatest of all time. Brisbane wouldn’t lose for the remainder of the regular season, heading into the playoffs on a 18 game winning streak. During this time, seven of the team’s victories come in wins by 30 points or more, including a run of three games against Adelaide, New Zealand and Singapore, where they won by 32, 34, and 32, respectively.

Mackinnon (18.9 points, 9.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.4 blocks) would deliver perhaps the greatest season of all time, becoming the first player in NBL history to win both the Best Defensive Player and Most Valuable Player award in the same season. Making Brisbane even tougher to stop is the fact that besides MacKinnon, they had five guys who could take over a game at any time in Ere (17.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists), Rychart (15.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.0 steals), Bruton (14 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 4.5 assists), Black (13.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists) and Bradtke (10.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists).

Joey Wright would be named coach of the year before leading Brisbane to a seven-point win over Sydney (91-84) in the first game of the semi-finals. Ere (22 points) led the Bullets in scoring. Game two moved to Sydney, where Ere (23 points) would again finish as the game-high scorer, but it was Bruton (21 points) that sealed the series, scoring 16 points in the fourth quarter to eliminate his former club from the playoffs (93-86).

Melbourne (25-8) had finished second on the ladder and defeated Cairns (2-0) to meet Brisbane in the Grand Final. Playing at home, Brisbane extended their winning streak to 21, narrowly defeating Melbourne by three points (98-95). Stephen Black (24 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists) top scoring, alongside Sam Mackinnon (18 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 blocks), who came close to racking up a triple-double. Chris Anstey (21 points and 9 rebounds) would lead the Tigers in the loss.

Melbourne would end the streak in game two, defeating Brisbane (105-91) thanks to a huge game from Anstey (31 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks) and the Tigers dominating the Bullets on the glass (59 to 44 rebounds).

Brisbane returned home for game three where they had only lost one game for the entire season and made sure Anstey (9 points and 13 rebounds) wouldn’t have a repeat performance. MacKinnon, Bradtke and Rychart were instrumental in keeping him off the scoreboard, limiting him to 4 of 15 shooting. Black (22 points) again finished as the game’s high scorer, with MacKinnon (19 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, and 3 steals) filling every other column of the stat sheet to give the Bullets a 20 point victory (113-93).

In game four, Brisbane defied the odds and defeated Melbourne by nine points (103-94), despite the Tigers shooting a better percentage from the field, beyond the arc and winning the rebound battle. However, Melbourne finishing with 26 turnovers, compared to Brisbane’s 14 was the true indicator of the championship. Rashad Tucker (17 points and 12 rebounds) would lead the Tigers in scoring, while the Bullets held Anstey (16 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks) well below his usual scoring averages again, making him shoot 6 from 15 from the field. Bruton (22 points, 7 assists, and 2 steals) and Dusty Rychart (21 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals) were instrumental at both ends of the floor, while MacKinnon (13 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals), who may have had his quietest game of the series, was awarded the Finals MVP.

MacKinnon would become the first player to ever be selected to the All-NBL First team, win the regular season and finals MVP awards, be the defensive player of the year and win a championship in the same season (Until Chris Anstey would repeat the effort in the following season). Ere would appear in 39 games and average 17.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists for the season.

2007/08
During the 2007/08 season, Ere averaged 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists and was a part of the Bullets squad which finished in third place with a record of 20-10.

MELBOURNE TIGERS
2008/09
With the Bullets folding following the 2007/08 season, Ere signed with the South Dragons for the 2008/09 season but later, exited the deal to pursue a NBA contract. When that fell through, he was unable to join the Dragons after the club signed Tremmell Darden rather than waiting for Ere. Ere subsequently signed with crosstown rivals, the Melbourne Tigers.

In 2008/09, Ere averaged 20.7 points and 4.9 rebounds, and 2.2 assists, and helped guide the Tigers to a second place finish in the regular season with a 20-10 record.

ADELAIDE 36ERS
2015/16
The 36ers revamped their backcourt once again prior to the 2015/16 season, signing import guards Kenyon McNeail and two-time NBL champion Ere. Having lost Brock Motum to Europe and deciding not to re-sign Luke Schenscher (who then signed with Townsville), the team added two young talents in Melbourne Tigers forward Lucas Walker and a guard named Nathan Sobey who had spent the previous season as a training player with Cairns. Coach Joey Wright had noticed the young talent during warm-ups when they played Cairns and offered him a contract and a proper spot on a NBL team’s roster.

Daniel Johnson (15.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game) continued to lead the team in scoring and rebounding, but three games into the season McNeail left the team after three games due to a shoulder injury sustained during the pre-season dunk contest. Wright was tasked with again, tracking down a suitable import point guard for the club.

The Sixers unearthed point-sized Jerome Randle, who, after being viewed as ‘too small’ to make the NBA, had spent the past five seasons in Europe and, in his own words began to ‘fall out of love’ with basketball. Randle told media that during his first under Wright, who was never known for holding back, didn’t like what he was seeing from his new star, so he called him out by saying, ‘If you don’t play your game, then you’re gonna f***in’ sit on the bench!’. That unexpected outburst struck a chord with Randle, with the Chicago-born kid thinking, ‘Damn, I’m at home now’. It was a sentiment Randle hadn’t had since leaving Chicago, and it made him proud to play basketball for the first time, in a long time.

Randle (23.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 5.2 assists) went on to score 30 points or more four times, including a 40-point effort on November 5 against Perth and finished the year as the league’s leading scorer, becoming the first Adelaide 36ers player to do so. He also earned the inaugural NBL Australia Post Fan’s MVP.

Ere averaged 10.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists alongside Randle and Johnson, helping the team finish the season with 14-14 record.

Despite Randle’s great individual season, the 36ers failed to make the playoffs, finishing in fifth place (14-14). At season’s end, Randle was selected to the All-NBL First Team, and Johnson to the All-NBL second team.

Ebi Ere played five seasons across four NBL teams. This included the Sydney Kings, Melbourne Tigers, Brisbane Bullets and Adelaide 36ers. He averaged 19 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 176 NBL games.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Dan Boyce (817 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.