Perhaps following Townsville Crocodiles lead by scanning the second-tier basketball leagues in Australlia to find an import replacement the Cairns Taipans are set to announce the signing of Jeremy Kendle, Channel 7 reporter Josh Bristow reporting the story.
Kendle was the leading scorer and MVP of the Queensland Basketball League while playing with the Toowoomba Mountaineers in 2015. This week he announced he would play for the Bendigo Braves for the 2016 SEABL season, but most likely not before a short stint in the NBL as a replacement for injured Markel Starks.
Starks suffered a hamstring strain just minutes into the Taipans’ 17 December home game versus the Perth Wildcats.
In what will no doubt be a huge opportunity for Kendle, it will no doubt be a very brief one with Taipans’ medical staff hoping to have Starks back for their 6th of January home game which will see Starks return funnily enough against the Perth Wildcats.
The 188cm point guard played college for three seasons at Bellarmine University where was a key part of the school’s first NCAA Division II National Championship in 2011. Since leaving the school he has played in Morocco and Switzerland prior to arriving in Australia.
Kendle averaged 30 points and 6.5 assists per game in the QBL this season and is a clear on court leader, who can score, pass is a strong defender at an ABA level, it will be interesting to see how he can transition to the NBL in such a small time frame.
Kendle says he did have “talks” about playing as an import with NBL teams prior to the season kicking off. A strong performance in 1-2 games at the national level could be all he needs to have NBL teams considering him for their point guard needs for next season.
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.
