2022-2023 NBL Depth Charts
February 7, 2023
Kyle Zunic
- Nationality: AUS
- Date of Birth: 4/3/99
- Place of Birth: Wollongong (NSW)
- Position: GRD
- Height (CM): 188
- Weight (KG): 91
- Junior Assoc: NSW - Illawarra
- College: Winthrop University (2017-2021)
- NBL DEBUT: 3/12/21
- AGE AT DEBUT: 22
- LAST NBL GAME: 17/02/24
- AGE AT LAST GAME: 24
- NBL History: Perth 2022-24
- Championships: 0
- None
BIO: Kyle Zunic was born in Wollongong (NSW) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Illawarra basketball program. Zunic received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 2016. He spent two years year there and played for the program’s state league team (2016, 2017).
FAMILY: Kyle’s brother, Edin Zunic also played 6 games in the NBL. His brother, Jordan, is a professional golfer.
NBL EXPERIENCE
Kyle Zunic made his NBL debut with the Perth Wildcats at 22 years of age. He scored two points in his first game.
In his first game Zunic made NBL history by becoming the first development player to start in his debut NBL appearance.
This season, Perth would see Trevor Gleeson, who coached the team to five championships in seven seasons, leave to coach in the NBA with the Toronto Raptors. The Wildcats would then suffer another blow, losing mid-season signing Will Magnay and half of Perth’s bench rotation (Clint Steindl, Jarrad Weeks, and Jarred Bairstow), all signing multi-year deals to play for Tasmania under former Wildcats assistant Scott Roth.
Perth then looked to rebuild its squad, bringing in US coach Scott Morrison to replace Gleeson, adding imports Vic Law (via Brisbane) Michael Frazier III and signing Matthew Hodgson (via Brisbane) with their last free roster spot.
With the Wildcats missing key players Mitchell Norton, Matthew Hodgson, Todd Blanchfield and Michael Frazier during the season, Zunic started the season strong, but once the roster was fully healthy, he saw limited playing opportunities, averaging 1.7 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 0.8 assists per game in the Wildcat’s new system.
Perth played its first five games at home before playing 14 games away due to the border closures resulting from COVID-19. Despite the obstacle of being away from family and friends, the Wildcats spent the majority of the year in the top four and were a consensus favourite to make the Grand Final.
The dynamic duo of Cotton (22.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.4 steals) and Law (20.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks) was nearly unstoppable in the early stages of the season, with both players among the top three scorers in the league and Perth leading the league in total points scored (89.1 points per game).
Perth, who were second on the ladder (13-6), returned to Western Australia to play their last nine games, all at home. During that time, the team decided to replace Frazier with big man John Brown III, who flew into the country and began training only to receive the news that his former team would not provide a clearance in time for him to make the playoffs. Perth was then faced with the uncomfortable situation of asking Frazier, who had been training alongside Brown, to return to the lineup while Brown III headed back to the USA.
Earlier today, @PerthWildcats head coach Scott Morrison addressed the awkward nature of how things have played out with Michael Frazier II and John Brown III.#NBL22 pic.twitter.com/scxWbnKfDQ
— NBL (@NBL) April 6, 2022
A season ending knee injury saw Law shut down with only a few games to go, while Cotton also missing several games during the run home. This resulted in Perth winning only three of their nine home games and heading into their last game needing to defeat South East Melbourne to reach the playoffs. Perth entered the game sitting in fourth place, with their playoff chances on the line, but when the team built a eight-point lead in the second half, it seemed a lock that the Wildcats would return to the playoffs for the 37th season in a row. The Phoenix, however, fought back and ended the Wildcats’ extraordinary run of finals campaigns with a thrilling two-point overtime win, ending the team’s run of consecutive playoff appearances, a streak which had begun in 1986.
2022/23
After missing the playoffs for the first time in 35 years under Canadian coach, Scott Morrison announced he was leaving after just one season so he could return home for family reasons. In his place, the Wildcat’s appointed former Townsville Crocodiles star John Rillie as the club’s new head coach on a three-year deal.
Perth retained the majority of its roster, with only Kevin White (to Illawarra) and Matt Hodgson (to Taiwan) not returning. Perth re-signed Bryce Cotton (3 Year Deal), Todd Blanchfield (3 Year Deal) and Jesse Wagstaff (1 Year Deal) and elevated backup guard Kyle Zunic from development player to the full roster. Corey Webster, who the Wildcats had signed to a deal in 2017 only to see him leave before the season started, signed as a free agent. To round out the roster, imports TaShawn Thomas (France) and Brady Manek (North Carolina) were added for some additional scoring punch.
Rillie’s squad began the season nicely, notching up three wins in a row and looking like the Wildcats of old as they sat on top of the NBL ladder. This was then met with a five game losing streak and drop to seventh place, where they hung around until the final month of the season.
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With six games remaining in the regular season, Perth added Tai Webster to their roster after he was released from his team in Turkey, reuniting him with his brother Corey. Following the signing of Webster, Corey Shervill was released from the Wildcat’s 11-man roster.
The team’s final three games saw them lose to Tasmania (102–94) after allowing the JackJumpers to outscore them 27-15 across the final 10 minutes. A crucial loss to Cairns Taipans (84-71) set up a nail-biting last round where Perth needed to defeat the league leading Sydney Kings to avoid elimination. On the back of a upset victory (96-84) Perth (15-13) claimed sixth place on the ladder and advanced into the league’s inaugural play-in tournament.
After defeating the South East Melbourne Phoenix they would fall short against the Cairns Taipans and miss out on making the semi finals for the second year in a row.
Zunic saw limited opportunities to play, appearing in only 14 games for the Wildcats, averaging 1.6 points, 0.4 rebounds, and 0.4 assists.
2023/24
In his third NBL season, Zunic found himself fighting for playing time behind Bryce Cotton, Tai Webster, Corey Webster and Michael Harris in the rotation. He stepped up to play in the starting line up Illawarra in his home town of Wollongong in Round 10 when Tai Webster was unable to play due to illness.
Zunic was awarded the team’s Coaches’ Award at the end of the season.
Zunic spent three years in Perth for 40 appearances including back-to-back Coaches’ Awards in 2023 and 2024.
Kyle Zunic played three seasons the Perth Wildcats. He averaged 1.4 points, 0.7 rebounds, and 0.5 assists in 40 NBL games.
HIGHLIGHTS:
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | 25 | Perth | 10-18 (10) | 10 | 21.0 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 20% | 1 | 4 | 25% | 3 | 5 | 60% | 32% | 25% | 5 |
| 2022-23 | 24 | Perth | 15-13 (6) | 14 | 51.0 | 22 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 20 | 35% | 2 | 9 | 22% | 6 | 9 | 67% | 45% | 40% | 8 |
| 2021-22 | 23 | Perth | 16-12 (5) | 16 | 162.0 | 27 | 20 | 12 | 4 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 35 | 29% | 3 | 23 | 13% | 4 | 6 | 67% | 36% | 33% | 13 | Totals | 40 | 234 | 57 | 28 | 20 | 8 | 20 | 9 | 2 | 10 | 15 | 19 | 65 | 29.2% | 6 | 36 | 16.7% | 13 | 20 | 65.0% | 39% | 34% | 15 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | 25 | Perth | 10-18 (10) | 10 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 20% | 0.1 | 0.4 | 25% | 0.3 | 0.5 | 60% | 32% | 25% | 5 |
| 2022-23 | 24 | Perth | 15-13 (6) | 14 | 3.6 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 35% | 0.1 | 0.6 | 22% | 0.4 | 0.6 | 67% | 45% | 40% | 8 |
| 2021-22 | 23 | Perth | 16-12 (5) | 16 | 10.1 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 29% | 0.2 | 1.4 | 13% | 0.3 | 0.4 | 67% | 36% | 33% | 13 | Total | 40 | 5.9 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 29.2% | 0.0 | 16.7% | 0.2 | 0.9 | 65.0% | 39% | 34% | 15 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 15 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
|---|
STATE LEAGUE EXPERIENCE
- BA CoE 2016-17 | USC Rip City 2021 | Warwick 2022 | Keilor 2024
FIBA EXPERIENCE
Zunic was a part of U19 Australian Emus squad which participated in the 2016 Oceania Qualifiers.
Represented Australia at the junior level and at the World University Games in 2019.
COLLEGE
Zunic averaged 6.5 points, 1.6 assists and 2.9 rebounds while picking up 73 steals over four years for the Winthrop Eagles. He also led the NCAA in charges-taken and incredibly won 42 of his last 47 games. Led the school to the NCAA Tournament in 2021.
Related
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