BIO: Cortez Groves was born in Kansas City, Missouri (USA).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Cortez Groves made his NBL debut with the Wollongong Hawks at 24 years of age. He scored 36 points in his first game.

His 36 points on debut was also his season high for 2002/03. Groves led the Hawks to a third place finish in the regular season and averaged 19.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.5 assists. He led the team past the Townsville Crocodiles in the Qualifying Finals in two straight games notching up 18 points in game one and 27 points in Game 2. The Hawks were then soundly defeated in the semifinals by the Perth Wildcats who limited Groves to a meagre 8.5 points per game on 6 from 30 shooting (20%) in the two game series. Groves would return to the USA at the end of the season.

ILLAWARRA HAWKS
2005/06
Groves returned to Australia two years later for the second stint with the Hawks in 2005/06, a year where the again finished third on the ladder in the regular season before being eliminated by the Perth Wildcats in the playoffs. Groves averaged 24 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 5.7 assists and was named the Hawks club MVP.

2006/07
Groves was re-signed for the 2006/07 NBL season and looked strong during the preseason where he was named in the NBL’s All-Star Five during the NBL Blitz Preseason tournament. Groves strong start continued when he was named NBL player of the week in round four after a weekend where he racked up 20 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals against Singapore and then 30 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 1 block against the South Dragons two nights later.

Groves saw his production drop off towards the end of the season, after a strong start averaging 24.1 points from September to December 2006 he managed only 18.8 points per game across January and February 2007 and as a result the Hawks finished in ninth place and missed the NBL playoffs. Groves finished with averages of 22.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 5.3 assists.

SOUTH DRAGONS
2007/08
With Shane Heal now in place as player-coach, the South Dragons entered their second season having made several key roster changes. Frank Drmic, Kavossy Franklin, and Rosell Ellis all departed, with Cortez Groves arriving via Wollongong to anchor the backcourt alongside Heal. The team also added Nick Horvath (via Adelaide) and Luke Martin (via Cairns) in hopes of building a more balanced and dynamic roster.

The Dragons opened the year with six straight losses, including narrow defeats to Brisbane (by one point) and Melbourne (by three). Groves was one of the few constants during this turbulent start, often shouldering the offensive burden and acting as a stabilising force while the team searched for answers.

Midway through this stretch, import big man Nick Horvath was deactivated as the club awaited his New Zealand citizenship, allowing them to sign veteran forward Bakari Hendrix. Hendrix’s arrival sparked the team’s best run of the year—starting with a 102–90 win over the New Zealand Breakers in his debut. Groves and Hendrix proved an effective duo, with Groves operating on the perimeter while Hendrix provided inside scoring and rebounding. During Hendrix’s first seven games, the Dragons went 4–3, giving fans a brief glimpse of what could have been.

Unfortunately, that short-lived success marked the high point of the campaign. The Dragons lost their final 14 games, plunging to the bottom of the standings. In January, assistant coach Michelle Timms left the organisation, and by early February, Shane Heal was sacked after a 4–22 start. Assistant coach Guy Molloy took over for the remainder of the season.

Groves immediately stepped into a major scoring role, bringing veteran composure and a reliable offensive presence to a Dragons side desperate for leadership. Across 27 games, he averaged 18.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.2 steals per game, providing consistent output as the team endured a rollercoaster season.

Through all the turmoil, Groves remained a steady presence. He finished second on the team in scoring behind Hendrix (18.9 points, 6.8 rebounds), and formed part of a productive core with Heal (15.8 points, 3.9 assists) and emerging second-year star Joe Ingles (15.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists). Groves’ ability to create off the dribble, hit timely shots, and apply ball pressure defensively made him one of the few consistent contributors in a chaotic year.

Despite Groves’ efforts, the Dragons finished last in the league with a 5–25 record, including a dismal 1–14 mark on the road.

2008/09
The Dragons retained five players heading into their third season. Ingles, the blue-collar Matt Burston, wing Nathan Herbert, the naturalised Nick Horvath, and import Cortez Groves. The demise of the Sydney Kings saw legendary coach Brian Goorjian open to offers, and the Dragons quickly offered to bring him to Melbourne and replace Shane Heal. Talented point guard Adam Gibson also joined the roster after his team (Brisbane) also exited the league. Other new additions saw Tremmell Darden signed on as the team’s second import, Mika Vukona (via New Zealand) was brought in to add a new found physicality to the squad and Rhys Carter (via West Sydney), who due to having no NBL team’s interested in signing him, asked Goorjian if he could train with the team to keep in shape and his efforts were enough for Goorjian to offer him the backup point guard spot.

The season began with a slow start, a loss to Cairns and then Townsville saw the Dragons start the year with a 2-2 record. Then came a 8 game winning streak before Cortez Groves, who had averaged 12.1 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists for the season, suffered a injury which led to his release. He was replaced by former NBA forward Donta Smith and the Dragons would go on to win the NBL championship but he remained with a part of the team throughout the season.

ADELAIDE 36ERS
2009/10
After completing his rehab Groves signed a deal to play with Adelaide in what would be a disaster of a season. The team failed to re-sign Luke Schenscher and Aaron Bruce but would add Matthew Burston and import guard John Gilchrist as the team said farewell to long serving club captain Brett Maher who retired after playeingin 525 games and captaining the club to 3 NBL championships (1998, 1998/99, 2001/02).

In his third season with the club, Adam Ballinger (17.6 points, 5.3 rebounds) became team captain and went on to lead the team in scoring. Gilchrist (16.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists) led the team in assists and finished second in scoring, while Burston (9.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 0.5 assists)led the team in rebounding in his first season with the club. Groves would contribute 9.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists but his injury seemed to have impacted his abilities significantly resulting in him scoring his fewest points in a season across his NBL career, resulting in his time with Adelaide being his last in the NBL.

Groves struggled to give the 36ers much at all after injury, which seemed to have impacted his abilities quite significantly, resulting in him scoring his fewest points in a season across his NBL career (9.8 points) and his time with Adelaide being his last in the NBL. As a coach, Scott Ninnis seemed out of his depth, and the year concluded with the 36ers finishing on the bottom of the NBL ladder for the first time in their history with a 10–18 record. Following the club’s worst ever season, Ninnis was sacked as coach and replaced by former AIS coach Marty Clarke for the 2010/11 NBL season.

Cortez Groves played six seasons across three NBL teams. This included the Wollongong Hawks, South Dragons and Adelaide 36ers. He averaged 18.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 3.9 assists in 164 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (836 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.