BIO: Clayton Ritter was born in Norfolk, Virginia (USA).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Clayton Ritter made his NBL debut with the Illawarra Hawks at 25 years of age. He scored 25 points in his first game.

After another season missing out on the NBL playoffs in 1996, the Hawks were unable to retain their scoring and rebounding leader Marcus Timmons (who would end up leading the Melbourne Tigers to the championship that season) and were forced to move into a rebuilding phase for this season. Illawarra would focus on the continued development of Hawks big man Matt Zauner, who was named team captain at the start of the season, and young stars Glen Saville and Mat Campbell. Eric Cooks, who had played under head coach Brendan Joyce, and alongside Campbell and Saville with the Ballarat Miners in state league competition, was added for veteran leadership. The Hawks then decided not to re-sign 31-year-old Andre LaFleur and signed two young imports in guard Bryan Edwards and big man Clayton Ritter to replace the scoring and rebounding of Timmons.

Ritter scored 40+ points twice and contributed 23.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists during his first year. Edwards however wasn’t the fit the Hawk’s needed at point guard and off-court issues between Zauner and Joyce stemming from a contract dispute saw the Hawks struggled to find wins. Edwards was replaced by Dylan Rigdon mid-season but the Hawks (7-23) failed to make any improvement, missing the playoffs yet again.

1998
In 1998, the team was renamed the Wollongong Hawks and moved into WIN Entertainment Centre, known as the Sandpit. The Hawks re-signed star Clayton Ritter (23.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists) and paired him with defensive-minded guard Elliot Hatcher (19.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists). Alongside the talented import duo, Ritter contributed 24.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists and helped the Hawks double their wins from the previous year, improving from seven wins to 14 wins and finishing in sixth place.

In the elimination finals the Hawks would go on to face the Perth Wildcats, losing back to back games before being eliminated from the playoffs in the first round.

1998/99
Coinciding with the NBL’s move to summer, the Hawks shifted base to the Wollongong Entertainment Centre and swapped their Illawarra prefix to Wollongong. Coming off a 14 win season that saw the Hawks reach the postseason, the Hawks were able to retain almost their entire and add CJ Bruton (via Brisbane) who immediately became Wollongong’s starting point guard and primary offensive weapon. With the addition of Bruton, there was no need for import guard Elliot Hatcher and they replaced him with Theron Wilson. Also, talented big man David Andersen was recruited from the AIS to replace the outgoing Matt Zauner.

Bruton (20.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists) would be given the ‘green light’ as he boosted his scoring from 15.4 points to 20.8 points per game in 46 minutes per game. Clayton Ritter (17.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists 1.1 steals) and Mat Campbell (15.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.5 assists) also finished among the team’s high scorers.

The Hawks finished the season winning two more games than the year prior, improving upon their previous record for the third year in a row and finishing in third place (16-10).

A disappointing postseason first saw the Hawks lose to the Victoria Titans in two straight games during the Qualifying Finals, but thanks to the league’s of the ‘lucky loser’ rule, which allowed the highest placed loser from the Qualifying Finals to proceed to the next round. There, a matchup with Adelaide saw Illawarra eliminated in two straight games, ending their season for good this time.

1999/00
In 2000, Ritter moved 2.5 hours away to play for rival team the Canberra Cannons where he averaged 16.3 points and 7.3 rebounds. The Cannons struggled during the season and finished the year with a record of 11-17.

Clayton Ritter played four seasons in the NBL, playing for both the Illawarra Hawks and the Canberra Cannons. He averaged 20.5 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in 116 NBL games.

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.