Luke Schenscher has agreed to play with the Townsville Crocodiles for 2015/16 where he will pair with reigning MVP and recent Crocodiles signing Brian Conklin.
The 216cm big man may have seen his minutes diminish in recent NBL seasons spent with the 36ers but returning to Townsville, a team he spent 2010-2012 with he hopes to regain some of the dominant form he showed in his last go around with the Crocs.
NBL Career Statistics
| YEAR | M | FG% | FT% | REB | AST | PTS |
| 2014/15 | 30 | 48.6 | 40.8 | 5.1 | 1.1 | 6.9 |
| 2013/14 | 34 | 52.6 | 59.5 | 5.4 | 0.8 | 6.8 |
| 2012/13 | 21 | 45.3 | 61.3 | 6.1 | 1.9 | 9 |
| 2011/12 | 24 | 47.7 | 70.3 | 5.3 | 2.2 | 10.4 |
| 2010/11 | 31 | 52.9 | 73.4 | 6.8 | 1.4 | 13.7 |
| 2009/10 | 33 | 52 | 62.1 | 6.2 | 1 | 10 |
| 2008/09 | 31 | 54.9 | 74.6 | 10.8 | 1.5 | 16.9 |
Although Schenscher’s numbers have declined steadily since moving to the Adelaide “Big Schensch” is still a legitimate force in this league.
Whilst playing 5-15 minutes in a game was not uncommon for the 32 year old last season the games where he managed to play a decent amount of court time showed impressive numbers.
In games he played over 25 minutes last season he was able to rack up 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 .5 blocks per game. If Townsville can regularly get 25+ minutes out of the tallest player in the league hopefully they will see similar numbers, either way acquiring Schenscher makes them a much more effective offensive and defensive unit.
New management at the 36ers saw the club move on from veterans Schenscher and Peter Crawford, opting instead to inject some youth with shot-blocker Matt Hodgson (St Mary’s via Melbourne United) and guard Sobey.
Since then the value of the big man has increased significantly. NBL clubs have heavily invested recently in bringing quality big men into the League. Sydney’s signing of Julian Khazzouh, A.J. Ogilvy signing at Illawarra and the rumors of Melbourne United hoping to sign an NBA experienced big man a testament to that.
The addition of Luke to the Crocodiles front court add’s veteran leadership, experience and a passing ability that few big man in the league can provide. The South Australian boasts NBA stints with the Chicago Bulls and Portland Trailblazers on his resume and that too will no doubt be beneficial to the young core of the Crocodiles in terms of professionalism and work ethic required for success.
Schenscher was also a part of the championship winning team in 2010 with Perth and if you combine that with the fact that Townsville’s last play-off appearance was when Luke was last seen in a Croc’s uniform. Could his return mean a return to the play-offs also… time will tell.
Schenscher becomes the sixth signing for Townsville’s 2015/16 roster, joining Clint Steindl Brian Conklin, Leon Henry, Mitch Norton and Mitch Young.