BIO: Madut grew up in Blacktown Sydney before moving to the United States where he attended DME Academy (Daytona Beach, Florida). He then earned a scholarship to play for the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors in the NCAA.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Junior Madut made his NBL debut with the South East Melbourne Phoenix at 25 years of age. He scored 11 points in his first game.

A familiar face at South East Melbourne, Junior Madut first trained with the Phoenix during the 2019 pre-season, spending eight months with the club before officially signing with them in 2022. The Phoenix entered NBL23 with high hopes of erasing the memories of an injury-plagued prior season. They retained their core group of Ryan Broekhoff, Izaya Mauriohooho-Le’Afa, Cameron Gliddon, Reuben Te Rangi, and co-captains Mitch Creek and Kyle Adnam. The team bolstered its lineup with imports Trey Kell III and Gary Browne in the backcourt, while big man Alan Williams was brought in to replace Zhou Qi.

Qi, initially expected to return to China, made a last-minute decision to re-sign with the Phoenix, creating a much-discussed “twin towers” combination with Williams.

The Phoenix’s opening game was played without Broekhoff, Kell, and Browne due to pre-season injuries, with Qi’s arrival delayed by two weeks. Adnam stepped into the starting five and delivered a career-high scoring performance against Tasmania. Behind Adnam (30 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists), Mitch Creek (23 points and 6 rebounds), and Alan Williams (12 points and 7 rebounds), South East Melbourne defeated Tasmania (84–79), sparking excitement among fans.

When South East Melbourne fielded all five starters, they were one of the league’s most balanced and impressive units. Unfortunately, injuries disrupted the lineup throughout the season. Qi (6.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 0.2 assists) played just nine games before leaving for family reasons, Kell (12.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists) missed five games due to broken ribs, and Broekhoff (10.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 0.9 assists) was sidelined for a third of the season with a recurring hamstring issue.

Mitch Creek (23.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.9 assists) was the only starter to appear in every game. Creek stepped up his game to cover for the absences, emerging as an MVP candidate in the process.

Qi’s early departure led to expanded roles for first-year players Grant Anticevich (2.1 points and 1.6 rebounds) and Anzac Rissetto (1.2 points and 0.4 rebounds), while the limited availability of Broekhoff, Kell, and Browne (who collectively played just 61 of 84 possible games) opened opportunities for Adnam (8.4 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 2.6 assists) and Te Rangi (5.1 points and 3.0 rebounds) in the starting lineup. The Phoenix also relied heavily on lesser-known players Junior Madut (4.0 points and 2.3 rebounds) and Owen Foxwell (3.8 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.2 steals), who delivered strong performances when called upon.

Despite a shaky start, South East Melbourne climbed to second on the ladder before injuries derailed their momentum, ultimately finishing fifth (15–13) and earning a spot in the Play-In Tournament. Facing Perth in the Play-In Qualifier without sharpshooter Broekhoff, the Phoenix entered as favourites but were overpowered by standout performances from Perth’s imports Bryce Cotton (26 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 steals) and Brady Manek (24 points). The 106–99 loss ended South East Melbourne’s playoff hopes and left fans lamenting another “almost” season.

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS
2023/24
Tasmania entered its third NBL season after finishing fourth at 16-12 and falling to New Zealand in the NBL23 playoffs. Scott Roth retained captain Clint Steindl alongside Jack McVeigh, Will Magnay, Fabijan Krslovic, Sean MacDonald and Jarred Bairstow, while Sam McDaniel (to Brisbane), Isaac White (to Brisbane), Matt Kenyon (to South East Melbourne), Jarrad Weeks (retired), Josh Magette and Rashard Kelly departed. Milton Doyle re-signed, with Anthony Drmic (via Adelaide), Marcus Lee (via Melbourne), Jordon Crawford (via Büyükçekmece), Majok Deng (via Cairns) and Junior Madut (via South East Melbourne) joining the roster.

The guard had first trained with South East Melbourne during the 2019 pre-season before earning his first NBL contract in 2022. Following his rookie season he produced a 50-point NBL1 East game for Norths Bears against Penrith, then represented South Sudan at the nation’s first FIBA World Cup before joining Tasmania. The JackJumpers had tracked him since he impressed against them in two pre-season games the previous year and signed him to a two-year deal. “I feel like my strengths will really complement the guys already there and the strong roster they’re putting together,” he said.

“It feels like they’re building something really special, and I’m excited to immerse myself in the program and be part of that.”

Tasmania opened its season at RAC Arena on September 29, where Madut (5 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal) played 13 minutes off the bench in his best game of the season, but Perth defeated the JackJumpers 101-95, with McVeigh (22 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists) and Doyle (18 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists) leading Tasmania while Jordan Usher (35 points) starred for the Wildcats.

Madut (1.6 points across 11 games) remained at the end of the rotation, with most of his minutes coming early in the season. When Deng suffered an ankle injury, Tasmania signed Tom Vodanovich (via FiberXers) on January 5 and deactivated Madut’s contract. “Junior is a fantastic young guy who has a really promising future. His attitude and work ethic has been fantastic, however we have decided to bring in a bigger body option to cover injuries,” Roth said. Madut (to Kauhajoen Karhu) signed in Finland on January 21.

McVeigh (17.3 points and 5.9 rebounds across 37 games), Crawford (16.1 points and 3.2 assists across 37 games), Doyle (15.7 points, 5 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.2 steals across 36 games) and Magnay (10.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks across 27 games) led Tasmania to third place at 16-12, with MacDonald (8 points across 37 games), Deng (7.5 points across 26 games), Drmic (6.8 points and 4.7 rebounds across 37 games) and Lee (6.1 points and 5.4 rebounds across 34 games) providing further support. McVeigh and Doyle were selected to the All-NBL Second Team, McVeigh was named the JackJumpers’ MVP and MacDonald won the NBL Most Improved Player award.

With Madut no longer on the active roster, Tasmania reached the Championship Series and defeated Melbourne United 83-81 in Game Five at John Cain Arena, with Crawford (32 points and 6 rebounds), McVeigh (14 points and 8 rebounds), Magnay (11 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks) and Doyle (11 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 steals) leading the JackJumpers, while Jo Lual-Acuil (14 points and 6 rebounds), Luke Travers (13 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks), Matthew Dellavedova (13 points and 7 assists), Chris Goulding (13 points and 2 steals) and Shea Ili (11 points and 4 rebounds) led Melbourne, with McVeigh named Grand Final MVP as Tasmania won its first NBL championship.

Junior Madut played two seasons in the NBL, playing for both the South East Melbourne Phoenix and the Tasmania JackJumpers. He averaged 3.3 points, 2 rebounds, and 0.6 assists in 39 NBL games.