NICKNAME/S: AJ

BIO: Andrew “A.J.” Ogilvy was born in Sydney (NSW) and attended Oakhill College, located in Castle Hill, NSW. He started playing basketball as a junior with the Hills Hornets under the guidance of Coach Howard.

In 2005, he also won the New South Wales Junior Basketball Player of the Year Award, the Basketball Australia Education Award, and the AIS Academic Excellence Award. Ogilvy received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 2005. He spent three years year there and played for the program’s state league team (2005, 2006, 2007).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Aj Ogilvy made his NBL debut with the Sydney Kings at 25 years of age. He scored 14 points in his first game.

On 16 April 2013, Ogilvy signed with his hometown team the Sydney Kings for the 2013/14 NBL season. In his first NBL season, Ogilvy (13.1 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 2.3 blocks) led the league in rebounds (243) and blocks (65), earning his first spot on the All-NBL First Team. Sydney went on to finish sixth place during the regular season (12-16), missing out on the playoffs.

After suffering a foot injury while playing in Spain, Ogilvy returned to Australia for the 2015/16 season, signing with the Illawarra Hawks and was a revelation for the Hawks, who had finished last in the NBL the prior season, finishing in the top six of five statistical categories. He averaged 16.4 points (6th), 8.5 rebounds (2nd), 1.5 steals (2nd), 1.7 blocks per game (1st) while shooting 45.% from the field (4th).

ILLAWARRA HAWKS
2015/16
Following long-time coach Gordie McLeod’s departure, Rob Beveridge was signed as head coach for the 2015/16 season. He made big moves coming into his first season, inking the trio of AJ Ogilvy, Kirk Penney, and Kevin Lisch, who had all been playing in Europe the previous season.

The trio were dubbed ‘the three-headed monster’, but a knee injury to Lisch in the Hawks opening game of the season saw the trio play limited games together during the first month of the season.

Lisch returned to action with a 15 point and 7 rebound effort in a loss to his former team, the Perth Wildcats (106–99). In January, Lisch was named NBL Player of the Month for December after leading the Hawks to five wins in six games and averaging 22.7 points, 4.3 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game throughout the month. This included a career-high 40 points in a double-overtime win over New Zealand (103–96) in Auckland. Four days later, he played his 150th NBL game in a loss to the Wildcats in Perth.

Ogilvy, who had just overcome a foot injury sustained while playing in Spain, was a revelation for the Hawks, finishing sixth in the league in scoring, fourth in field-goal percentage, second in both rebounds and steals and first in blocks. Ogilvy (16.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 1.7 blocks) delivered one of the greatest statistical seasons of the past 20 years as Illawarra finished in third place (17–11).

This set up a semi final series against second-seed Perth, where, during the first quarter, Illawarra suffered a major blow to their playoff hopes. Lisch suffered a ankle injury late in the first quarter before returning to the bench in the second half in a moon boot and on crutches. The injury ruled Lisch out of Game 2, but the Hawks managed to rally at home to even the series. He recovered in time to face the Wildcats in game three however, despite Lisch’s return, the Hawks were defeated (89–74) and eliminated from the playoffs.

Penney was named to the All-NBL second team while both Ogilvy (16.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) and Lisch (19.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.8 steals) were selected to the All-NBL First Team. Lisch also took home the Best Defensive Player award as well as winning the NBL MVP for the second time, making Lisch only the second player in NBL history to win the award with two different team’s.

2016/17
The Hawks would face a tough off-season in 2017, first losing Kevin Lisch to NSW rival Sydney who offered a very large contract to Kevin Lisch far above what the Hawks could afford. Then losing veteran Kirk Penney who would return to play for the New Zealand Breakers.

Beveridge quickly signed Mitch Norton and Nick Kay who had been left without a team after the demise of the Townsville Crocodiles following the 2015/16 season. Both players being heavily sought after by a number of rival NBL clubs.

Despite both receiving a number of higher financial offers, it was the recommendation from former Crocodiles Shawn Dennis to playing under head coach Rob Beveridge while delivered both to the Illawarra Hawks. Both players signing two-year deals with the club In April 2016.

Beveridge would replace Lisch with returning Hawk and former NBL MVP Rotnei Clarke, pair him with Marvelle Harris as the team’s second import and was able to retain his core group of Oscar Forman, Tim Coenraad, Rhys Martin and Kevin White.

With all the new faces, the Hawks struggled to start the season and after first four rounds they sat at the bottom of the ladder.

Behind a strong finish to the season from the high-scoring Clarke (17 points per game) the Hawks squeezed into the top four by one game and Ogilvy finished the regular season averaging 11.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists.

The Hawks faced the Adelaide in the semifinals, the 36ers had finished the season on top of the NBL Ladder and took game one easily, 93-78, behind Jerome Randle’s 26 points and 4 assists. In a major upset, the Hawks would go on to win games two (100–94) and three (106-98) ending the 36ers season in premature fashion. Rotnei Clark led the team in scoring with 20 points in the deciding game.

There they would face off against Beveridge’s former team, the Perth Wildcats, who would sweep the Hawks in three straight games and win their eighth NBL Championship.

Rotnei Clarke, the Hawks leading scorer, struggled against the Wildcats, with defensive player of the year Damian Martin limiting him to just eight shots in game one. On the other hand, Perth’s leading scorer Bryce Cotton couldn’t be stopped, etching his name in the record books after exploding for 45 points in game three and taking home the NBL Finals MVP award.

2017/18
Ogilvy would average 9.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.9 assists with the Hawks, who narrowly missed out on making the playoffs, finishing in fifth place (12-16).

2018/19
On 12 April 2018, AJ Ogilvy exercised his player option to return to the Hawks, a team undergoing significant roster changes after the departure of several key players, including Demitrius Conger (to Serbia), Rotnei Clarke (to Greece), Nicholas Kay (to Perth), Delvon Johnson (to Slovakia), and the retirements of Cody Ellis and Rhys Martin. In response, the Hawks bolstered their lineup by adding Jordair Jett (via NZNBL), Brian Conklin (via France), David Andersen (via Melbourne), Cedric Jackson (via USA), and rookies Emmett Naar and Daniel Grida. They also retained core players Tim Coenraad, Nic Pozoglou, and team captain Kevin White.

Illawarra began the season with a dramatic quadruple-overtime thriller, narrowly losing to Melbourne (122–123). They followed this heartbreaking defeat with a heavy loss to Perth (101–61) but rebounded with a road win against Cairns (104–93). A brief two-game win streak later in October saw the Hawks secure victories against Brisbane (86–78) and Adelaide (120–109), momentarily placing them in fifth. However, inconsistency plagued the team, and they later endured a four-game losing streak in November, including defeats to Perth (90–81), Sydney (81–90), and Adelaide (104–79). Despite flashes of potential, the Hawks finished with a 12-16 record, missing the playoffs.

Ogilvy (9.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.1 blocks) continued to provide valuable contributions on both ends of the floor throughout the season. His standout performances included a 19-point, 14-rebound game against Adelaide (25 Nov 2018), a 16-point, 7-rebound effort against Brisbane (22 Nov 2018), and a 15-point, 21-rebound, 2-block performance in the season opener against Melbourne (12 Oct 2018).

Alongside Ogilvy, Illawarra was led offensively by Brian Conklin (14.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists), Todd Blanchfield (13.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.9 assists), who earned the Hawks’ club MVP award, Jordair Jett (11.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.8 assists), and team captain Kevin White. Despite strong individual performances, the Hawks couldn’t maintain consistency and ultimately missed the playoffs in what was one of the most competitive NBL seasons.

2019/20
On 29 March 2019, Ogilvy re-signed with the Hawks For the 2019/20 season, with the option for a second season.

Ogilvy went on to average 8.8 points and 6.1 rebounds, and 1.9 assists, as the Hawks finished in a ninth place (5-23).

2020/21
In April 2020, the Hawks’ season began with the team falling into voluntary administration, with creditors voting to liquidate the Hawks one month later. The NBL, however, vowed to keep the club alive, and on 17 June 2020, the NBL announced that Dorry Kordahi, Bryan Colangelo and Michael Proctor had been awarded the license for the club.

Under the agreement with the new ownership, the team has renamed The Hawks in a effort to broaden the team’s appeal in New South Wales and shortly after, it was announced the team had added Brian Goorjian as its head coach.

With all players having to renew their contracts with the new ownership, Sam Froling and Emmett Naar were the only players from the previous season’s full-time roster to return as the new ownership looked to build a almost entirely new roster. This began with the signing of Deng Adel, who had just finished a short stint with the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks and Cam Bairstow, who had just returned to Australia after spending a season in Lithuania which was cut short due to COVID-19, who were both part of the Australian Boomers national squad. Justinian Jessup, who had signed a Next Star deal with the NBL, was also added to the roster and was placed in Illawarra on a two-year contract, while imports Tyler Harvey and Justin Simon were also brought in to be the focal points of the team’s offence and defence respectively.

The Hawk’s season began with plenty of off-court drama. First, it was the omission of AJ Ogilvy and Tim Coenraad, both fan-favourite players and key players from last season. As a result of injuries, both players were later added to the squad as injury replacements when Bairstow and Daniel Grida suffered major injuries. Ogilvy also being named team captain after joining the full roster.

Next was the outpouring of fans calling for the return of ‘Illawarra’ to the team’s name, something which was front page news in Wollongong, clearly outweighing the Hawk’s 4-0 start to the season.

In early February, after a campaign by the new ownership group where more membership numbers and corporate support contributed, the NBL reinstated the Illawarra name ahead of the club’s first home game.

While the Hawks fought for, and retained their name, they faced several further challenges, the first being Bairstow, who after missing nine games with a minor hip issue was ruled out for the rest of the season and Daniel Grida. Add to that the struggles of Adel (5.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2 assists), who was never able to make a impact in the NBL, requested a release from his contract mid-way through the season, in a attempt to prevent any harm to his future NBA chances.

From round 16, the Hawks took flight and won eight of their last 10 matches to cement a spot in the finals, qualifying for the postseason for the first time since 2017.

Scoring didn’t come easy to the Hawks, who fell from averaging 90.5 over the first 10 games to finishing with the league’s lowest points average in the league with 81.5. Only four Hawks players averaged points in the double-digits, Tyler Harvey (20 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.4 steals), Justinian Jessup (13.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.2 steals), Cam Bairstow (11.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists) and Sam Froling (11.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks). The Hawks also had the worst field goal percentage of the league, sitting at 42.5 percent on the season (47.8 percent from the two-point range and 33.2 percent from deep). Illawarra’s free throw shooting also came in at 69.4 percent.

Despite the challenges, Illawarra didn’t fall below fifth place for the entire season and eventually finished third (20-16), with Ogilvy and Coenraad being crucial pieces at various points. Coenraad (5.5 points and 2.4 rebounds) took the court in 11 games, leading the NBL in three-point shooting (46.4%) and filled the hole in the roster created by Bairstow’s injury. Ogilvy (4.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game) proved he still had more in the tank, finishing the season as the team’s starting center.

Despite the challenges, Illawarra didn’t fall below fifth place for the entire season and eventually finished third (20-16).

The club powered through and made their first finals series in four years, a semi finals series against defending champions Perth. In four regular-season meetings against the Wildcats this season, the Hawks won one game – in Round 21 by two points. Otherwise, it was double-digit margins the way of Perth. Illawarra took Game 1 of the series by two points again, but unfortunately for the club, it would lose Game 2 and 3, each by eight-point margins, to end their playoff campaign.

2021/22
On 16 July 2021, Ogilvy re-signed with the Hawks for the 2021/22 season. Ogilvy would play limited minutes and average 1.5 points and 1.4 rebounds to help the Hawks finish in second place during the regular season with a 19-9 record. The Hawks were the eliminated by the Sydney Kings in two straight games in the semifinals.

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Aj Ogilvy played eight seasons in the NBL, playing for both the Sydney Kings and the Illawarra Hawks. He averaged 9.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in 215 NBL games.

CAREER RANKINGS:
– 28th in total blocks

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.