BIO: Tahjere McCall was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA) and attended George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science. There, he played for the schools basketball team and was lightly recruited by college team’s.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Tahjere McCall made his NBL debut with the Cairns Taipans at 24 years of age. He scored 16 points in his first game.

Cairns underwent a rehaul prior to the 2021/22 season, the first move being Adam Forde replacing head coach Mike Kelly. Forde, who had spent the previous season coaching the Sydney Kings, was tasked with finding some new firepower for the Snakes after losing the team’s leading scorer Cam Oliver to the NBA the previous season.

Imports Tahjere McCall and Stephen Zimmerman were brought in, alongside Keanu Pinder (via Adelaide) and rookie Bul Kuol (Detroit Mercy) to bolster a Taipans core which already included Majok Deng, Kouat Noi, Nathan Jawai, Mirko Djeric, Jarrod Kenny and Scott Machado who was named team captain.

The Taipans struggled to generate wins all season thanks to a glut of player injuries which saw Cairns unable to field a full roster in any game that season. Despite the team’s struggles, Forde was instrumental in developing the Taipans younger talent, many whom delivered career best seasons.

Majok Deng (14.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1 assists) had his best season to date, playing in every game for the Taipans and finishing second on the team in points per game and Keanu Pinder (10.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists), went on to be named the NBL’s Most Improved Player after doubling his points and rebounds from the previous season.

Another breakout season came from Ben Ayre (6.6 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists), who joined the team originally as a unpaid training player after being recommended to the team by former 36ers coach Joey Wright. Ayre was elevated into the full-time roster as an injury replacement in April, before going on to break NBL records in his eight-game tenure. On 18 April 2022, in just his sixth appearance for the Taipans, Ayre scored a team-high 20 points to go with 10 assists, four rebounds, three steals and four three-pointers in a loss to Melbourne (80-92). The 26-year-old became just the third player in 2021/22 to record 20 points and 10 assists in a game (alongside Bryce Cotton and Jaylen Adams) and just the second Taipan in club history to register 20 points and 10 assists. Lastly, first year player Bul Kuol (10.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.3 assists), who had been told he was not guaranteed to be part of the rotation or receive any minutes, also saw injuries thrust him into the lineup and quickly became one of the Taipans’ most important players. He would be rewarded at seasons end by being named Rookie of the Year.

Scott Machado (10.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 5.3 assists) sustained a heel injury in round two of NBL22, missing more than six weeks with the injury. In April 2022, he re-injured his heel and missed the rest of the season. Machado and Tahjere McCall (16.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2 steals), who led the team in scoring, and assists, were selected as co-MVP’s of the team as Cairns finished in second last place (9-19).

During his debut NBL season McCall lead the team in scoring (16) assists (5.6) and steals (1.9) per game, also finishing the season as the only player in the league to finish in the Top Three for both assists and steals.

In his final game of the season, McCall made history as the only NBL player ever in the 40-minute era to have 40+ points and 10+ assists in a unforgettable display against the Bullets, with his 42 points the highest score across the league in NBL22.

2022/23
McCall re-signed with the Taipans on a 2 year deal at the end of the 2021-22 season after coach Adam Forde’s first season as head coach. While the season prior hadn’t yielded much on-court success it did build a solid foundation, one that resulted in Cairns having one of their most successful seasons ever in NBL23. The club brought back leading scorer Tahjere McCall, Majok Deng, Bul Kuol Mirko Djeric, as well as the league’s most improved player Keanu Pinder.

Major departures included Kouat Noi (to Sydney) and Nathan Jawai, who, despite wanting to play another season, was not by the team or any other NBL team. Forde then replenished his roster, first signing promising big man Sam Waardenburg (3 Year Deal), who was hotly pursued by most NBL team’s yet chose to sign in Cairns after being offered a starting role. Fellow college grad Lat Mayen (Nebraska) and Jonah Antonio (Czech League) signed multi-year deals, and Ben Ayre, following a memorable stint as an injury replacement player last season, was elevated to the main roster. Imports Scott Machado and Stephen Zimmerman were replaced with DJ Hogg and Shannon Scott, and Cairns, with the youngest roster in the league, surprised everyone with some upset wins to start the season.

Picked by most to finish bottom of the ladder, Cairns opened the season by defeating grand finalists Tasmania (106-84), South East Melbourne (85-76) and the reigning champions Sydney (83-78) to start the season on a 5-1 run, their only loss being to Perth (76-105).

Other notable games for the season included defeating Melbourne United twice. The first encounter saw Cairns outscore Melbourne 11-1 in the final four minutes to take home a 81-77 win that propelled them into second place on the ladder and saw Forde call Pinder (26 points and 10 rebounds) the best centre in the league after the game. The second was a 25-point belting where the Taipans led by as much as 40 points in the final quarter.

Cairns battling back to secure a 102-101 victory over the Illawarra Hawks in a double overtime thriller where Hogg and McCall led the Taipans in scoring, both finishing with 23 points.

A back-and-forth affair in the final stanza called for some Tyler Harvey heroics in the clutch. Harvey answered the call, nailing a triple to tie things up with 11 seconds to go before a DJ Hogg miss sent the game to overtime.
Hogg took control in overtime, scoring 9 of Cairns’ 15 points across the two overtime periods. Two missed free-throws from Keanu Pinder left the door open for a Peyton Siva heave that rimmed out at the buzzer to give Cairns the victory.

And a win over the South East Melbourne Phoenix (94-85) without their MVP candidate, Keanu Pinder. The Taipans outscored the Phoenix by 19 in the second period, fuelled by a 22-5 run and 6 threes in the term with McCall leading the Taipans in scoring with 24 points on 7/8 shooting from the floor. Shannon Scott (19 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds) and DJ Hogg (16 points, 7 assists, 3 blocks) were also key in the win for Cairns.

A common Taipans’ trait this season was snapping opposition win streaks. This included snapping Brisbane’s three-game win streak in November (90-82) and ending the Kings’ record 17-game road winning streak (94-88) in a overtime thriller where Hogg scored 12 of his 20 points in the final term including back-to-back triples to send the game to overtime, Pinder led the team in scoring, putting up a career high 30 points and 13 rebounds, including 8 points in overtime to seal the win and McCall, who had settled into a bench role by this time, added 18 points off the bench for the Taipans, who outscored Sydney 39-23 after three quarter time.

The Taipans, who had spent the majority of the season sitting in second or third position on the ladder, then lost star Keanu Pinder to a ankle injury in December. Many in the media expected the team to drop down the ladder without Pinder, where they were originally predicted to finish, but instead, Cairns went on a five-game winning streak. This included wins over Adelaide 36ers (86-83), Illawarra (96-89), Brisbane (107-81), South East Melbourne (94-85), a second win over Illawarra (89-84) and New Zealand (85-83).

During the final month of the season, Cairns lost Pinder again, this time to a eye injury which resulted in him being unable to play any postseason games. Cairns and Zealand bounced back and forth in a battle for second place across the final fortnight of the games, finishing the season off by defeating Perth (84-71). The win momentarily saw Cairns jump to second place before New Zealand responded with wins over both Brisbane and Illawarra (the competition’s bottom two), resulting in both team’s finishing with a equal record (18-10). Due to the Breakers having a higher percentage, Cairns then dropped to third place and would have to go through the NBL’s inaugural play-in tournament to reach the semi finals. Next, Cairns would face Perth with Pinder still on the sidelines. Despite this, a history making effort from DJ Hogg (32 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assist), where he score the most points ever by a Taipan in a playoff game, delivered a 91-78 victory and the chance to face Sydney as the fourth seed in the semifinals.

McCall suffered a partially dislocated shoulder in the Taipans’ Seeding Qualifier against Tasmania and, as a result, was absent from game one of his side’s Playoff Series against Sydney. Without McCall available, Xavier Cooks (27 points and 14 rebounds) was able to power the Kings home to a 95-87 win over the Taipans in the opening game before a drama-filled game two saw Kings’ coach Buford being ejected. The emotions tipped over after Noi and Waardenburg both went down after hits to the head, Cooks suffered yet another ankle injury, and Tim Soares was charged with striking. Amidst the chaos, DJ Hogg (25 points and 8 rebounds) and Tahjere McCall (20 points and 7 assists) caught fire, and Cairns took down Sydney (93-82) to force a do-or-die game three.

In the deciding game, Vasiljevic, who had been almost a non-factor in the first two games, delivered when it mattered most for the Kings landing three crucial three-pointers on his way to 15 points and five rebounds to lead Sydney in scoring. Cooks shook off his rolled ankle from game two with 11 points and 11 rebounds as the Kings locked the Taipans down on defence, holding them to their lowest team score of the season, Sydney beating Cairns 79-64 to advance to the Championship Series. Ben Ayre finished top scorer for the Taipans with 20 points (4-8 from downtown) and 4 assists.

Pinder (16.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.3 steals) was named in the All-NBL Second Team as winning the Most Improved Player for a second consecutive season which had never been done before. Rookie Sam Waardenburg (11.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.1 assists) collected the league’s Next Generation Award, which replaced the Rookie of the Year award that season.

McCall would appear in 25 games over the course of the season, averaging 16.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 2.0 steals per game.

2022/23

Tahjere McCall played three seasons the Cairns Taipans. He averaged 16.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists in 70 NBL games.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Dan Boyce (815 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.