Luke Nevill on his NBL career, NBA experiences and the decline of the big man
March 2, 2021
Luke Nevill
- Nationality: AUS
- Date of Birth: 19/02/86
- Place of Birth: Perth (WA)
- Position: CTR
- Height (CM): 218
- Weight (KG): 120
- Junior Assoc: WA - Stirling
- College: Utah (2005–2009)
- NBL DEBUT: 15/10/10
- AGE AT DEBUT: 24
- LAST NBL GAME: 22/02/15
- AGE AT LAST GAME: 29
- NBL History: Melbourne 2011 | Perth 2012 | Townsville 2013 | Illawarra 2015
- Championships: 0
- None
BIO: Luke Alexander Nevill was born and raised in Perth, Western Australia, where he played as a junior for the Stirling Senators.
After struggling to get noticed by elite coaches in Australia he moved to the United States to play high school basketball with Kell High School in Marietta, Georgia.
Nevill walked onto the team as a exchange student and in 2003/04, he averaged 17.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.7 blocked shots and 2.5 assists per game. It didn’t take long to be noticed by the University of Utah and accepted a scholarship in 2004.
NBL EXPERIENCE
Luke Nevill made his NBL debut with the Melbourne Tigers at 24 years of age. He scored 17 points in his first game.
After playing college basketball for the University of Utah and in the NBA D-League Nevill returned to Australia, signing a deal with the Melbourne Tigers in 2010. That year was a tumultuous season for the Tigers, after recruiting multiple big men (Cam Tragardh, Wade Helliwell and Matthew Burston had also signed deals that season) the team had a unbalanced roster and failed to make the playoffs. Nevill averaged 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 block in only 25 minutes per game.
During the 2010/11 NBL season he was scouted by the Houston Rockets. Prior to the end of the season, the team axed coach Al Westover, who was replaced by Darryl McDonald and Nevill asked for a release to play with BC Triumph Lyubertsy of Russia for the rest of the year.
The following year Nevill returned to Perth when the opportunity to play for his hometown Perth Wildcats came along. In the 2011/12 NBL season, Nevill averaged 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block per game and helped the team reach the NBL Grand Final where they narrowly lost to the New Zealand Breakers.
After narrowly missing out on a NBA contract with the Indiana Pacers in 2012 Nevill would return to the NBL, signing with the Townsville Crocodiles mid-season. the Crocodiles had started the season 0–10 and in Nevill’s debut notched up their first win of the season over the Adelaide 36ers. The team would narrowly miss out on the NBL finals despite finishing the year with a losing record but Nevill delivered 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 block for the season.
Nevill signed with the Taiwan Mobile Clouded Leopards for the 2013/14 season before returning for his last NBL season with the Wollongong Hawks in 2014.
It was a difficult season for Nevill who averaged the lowest numbers of his NBL career, 7 points, 6 rebounds per game in a team that finished dead last with a record of 6-22.
Nevill would play two seasons with the Bank of Taiwan next, averaging 21 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks per game in 2015/16 and 18 points, 15 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block in 2016/17. Nevill played with Al Rayan of the Qatari Basketball League and then returned to Taiwan and played with the Yulon Luxgen Dinos before retiring from basketball in 2018.
Luke Nevill played four seasons across four NBL teams. This included the Melbourne Tigers, Townsville Crocodiles, Perth Wildcats and Wollongong Hawks. He averaged 10 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1 assists in 98 NBL games.
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.
NBL TOTAL STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-15 | 29 | Wollongong | 6-22 (8) | 28 | 486.0 | 200 | 156 | 14 | 55 | 101 | 6 | 23 | 19 | 49 | 84 | 173 | 49% | 0 | 2 | 0% | 32 | 43 | 74% | 52% | 49% | |
| 2012-13 | 27 | Townsville | 10-18 (7) | 18 | 456.0 | 237 | 88 | 16 | 29 | 59 | 5 | 22 | 36 | 41 | 102 | 185 | 55% | 0 | 2 | 0% | 33 | 49 | 67% | 57% | 55% | 26 |
| 2011-12 | 26 | Perth | 19-9 (2) | 34 | 671.0 | 324 | 166 | 50 | 47 | 119 | 15 | 39 | 53 | 76 | 134 | 264 | 51% | 1 | 1 | 100% | 55 | 69 | 80% | 55% | 51% | 22 |
| 2010-11 | 25 | Melbourne | 10-18 (7) | 18 | 442.0 | 219 | 133 | 18 | 48 | 85 | 6 | 22 | 40 | 48 | 86 | 143 | 60% | 0 | 1 | 0% | 47 | 61 | 77% | 64% | 60% | 23 | Totals | 98 | 2055 | 980 | 543 | 98 | 179 | 364 | 32 | 106 | 148 | 214 | 406 | 765 | 53.1% | 1 | 6 | 16.7% | 167 | 222 | 75.2% | 57% | 53% | 26 |
NBL PER GAME STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-15 | 29 | Wollongong | 6-22 (8) | 28 | 17.4 | 7.1 | 5.6 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 3.6 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 3.0 | 6.2 | 49% | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0% | 1.1 | 1.5 | 74% | 52% | 49% | |
| 2012-13 | 27 | Townsville | 10-18 (7) | 18 | 25.3 | 13.2 | 4.9 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 3.3 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 5.7 | 10.3 | 55% | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0% | 1.8 | 2.7 | 67% | 57% | 55% | 26 |
| 2011-12 | 26 | Perth | 19-9 (2) | 34 | 19.7 | 9.5 | 4.9 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 3.5 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 3.9 | 7.8 | 51% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 100% | 1.6 | 2.0 | 80% | 55% | 51% | 22 |
| 2010-11 | 25 | Melbourne | 10-18 (7) | 18 | 24.6 | 12.2 | 7.4 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 4.7 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 4.8 | 7.9 | 60% | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0% | 2.6 | 3.4 | 77% | 64% | 60% | 23 | Total | 98 | 21.0 | 10.0 | 5.5 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 3.7 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 4.1 | 7.8 | 53.1% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 16.7% | 0.0 | 0.1 | 75.2% | 57% | 53% | 26 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 26 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
|---|
STATE LEAGUE EXPERIENCE
- Kalamunda 2013/14
NBA EXPERIENCE
Although he did receive some NBA interest the big man had started to decline in the NBA and after participating in a training camp invitation from the Cleveland Cavaliers he became one of the first Australian’s to go on to play in the NBA D-League, signing with the Utah Flash in 2009. He played 48 games, started 43 of them and averaged 11.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 blocks per game.
In July 2012, NBA interest returned and Nevill joined the Orlando Magic for the Orlando Summer League, the Minnesota Timberwolves for the Las Vegas Summer League before signing a Preseason deal with the Indiana Pacers. He narrowly missed out on making the team, making the final roster cuts but was waived a week before the NBA season started.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
- Qatar - Al Rayan (2017) | Russia - Spartak Moscow (2010), Triumph Lyubertsy (2011) | Taiwan - Taipei (2013/2014), Bank of Taiwan (2015–2017), Yulon (2017–2018)
COLLEGE
Nevill made the decision to redshirt his first year as a Utah Ute and developed his skills during training sessions against fellow big man Andrew Bogut. After Bogut nominated for the NBA draft Nevill stepped into the team and in his freshman season, he earned he averaged 11.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
His sophomore season, he stepped into the starting lineup and averaged 16.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 blocks per game which gained the interest of a number of NBA scouts. He became just the 19th Ute to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds during his junior season as he averaged 15.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.6 blocks across 33 games.
Although NBA interest was growing around Nevill he decided to return to college for his senior season, leading the Utes to the NCAA Tournament. At the conclusion of the season, he was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 16.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.7 blocks per game.
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