NICKNAME/S: Ty

BIO: Tyrell Harrison was born in Brisbane (QLD).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Tyrell Harrison made his NBL debut with the Brisbane Bullets at 18 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

Beginning his career as a development player with the Bullets, Harrison averaged 0.4 points and 0.2 rebounds as the Bullets finished with a record of 9-19 and in eighth place during the regular season.

2018/19
After finishing dead last in 2018, Brisbane said goodbye to Adam Gibson (to South East Melbourne), Shaun Bruce (to Sydney), and Anthony Petrie (retired) and went on a recruiting drive that brought in Boomers sharpshooter Cameron Gliddon (via Cairns), Jason Cadee (via Sydney), Matt Hodgson (via Adelaide), Tom Jervis (via Perth), and Mika Vukona (via New Zealand). The Bullets also welcomed back Rio Olympian and former Chicago Bull Cam Bairstow, who was returning after a knee reconstruction, added Makoto Hiejima under the NBL’s Asian Player rule, making him the first Japanese player to sign with an NBL team, and added NBA veteran Alonzo Gee (via Puerto Rico) as an import.

These key signings were meant to bolster Brisbane’s roster as they prepared for a tough start to the season, with 12 of their first 15 games coming against last season’s top-four playoff teams.

Four games into the season, Brisbane was forced to release Alonzo Gee (7.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) after four matches when the veteran of 417 NBA games requested to go home to the US for ‘personal reasons’. A month later, import Stephen Holt (7.1 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists), concerned about his playing time (16.6 minutes per game), was granted a mutual release and left to pursue an opportunity in Europe. To fill the gap, Brisbane signed Lamar Patterson (via China) to replace Gee (Oct 2018) and Jeremy Kendle (6.0 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists) to cover the loss of Holt.

By January, Brisbane’s season had dropped to the middle of the ladder, a 29-point loss to Cairns had them sitting on a 9-9 record.

During this time, Nnanna Egwu (0 points, 2.3 rebounds) was brought in for three games as an injury replacement. Kendle’s contract was extended for the rest of the season, and rarely used Japanese guard Makoto Hiejima was replaced by import AJ Davis (4.1 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 0.3 assists), son of NBA legend Antonio Davis, to further improve the roster.

Despite limited opportunities, Tyrell Harrison (1.0 points, 0.7 rebounds, and 0.2 assists across 6 games) delivered several promising moments for the Bullets off the bench. His best performances included 4 points and 1 rebound against Illawarra (31 Dec 2018), 2 points against Cairns (19 Jan 2019).

Alongside Harrison, Brisbane was led offensively by Lamar Patterson (17.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.3 steals), who was selected to the All-NBL First Team, Cam Bairstow (11.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists), and Reuben Te Rangi (9.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists), who won the the league’s Most Improved Player and Sixth Man of the Year. Brisbane finished the regular season tied with Adelaide, both teams recording a 14-14 record. However, Brisbane secured the fourth spot due to a higher overall points percentage and advanced to the playoffs.

Perth went on to face Brisbane in the semi-finals, where Terrico White (24 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist) and Bryce Cotton (19 points, 2 rebounds, and 10 assists) outclassed the Bullets in Game 1 (89–59). Cam Gliddon (18 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists) finished as Brisbane’s top scorer. In Game 2 (84–79), Terrico White (24 points and 3 rebounds) once again led Perth in scoring, while Bryce Cotton (19 points, 10 assists, and 3 rebounds) recorded his first career double-double. Despite strong efforts from Lamar Patterson (19 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals) and Matthew Hodgson (15 points and 2 blocks), Brisbane couldn’t stop Perth from advancing to the Grand Final to face Melbourne. Harrison saw minimal playing time in both games.

2019/20
The 2019/20 season saw Harrison average 1.3 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 0 assists and as the Bullets finished in fifth place finish in the regular season with a 15-13 record.

2020/21
Brisbane continued to struggle to build a solid foundation and culture in their fourth year since re-entering the league. The Bullets released Cam Gliddon (to South East Melbourne), Lamar Patterson (New Zealand) and Will Magnay (NBA), who signed a deal to play with the New Orleans Pelicans.

Entering the Bullets camp were rookie Tanner Krebs (St Mary’s – NCAA), Anthony Drmic and Harry Froling (both via Adelaide), as well as import signings Vic Law and Orlando Johnson.

The Bullets had put together a high-scoring side onto the floor, with Law (18.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.4 blocks) shooting the ball at 47% from the field and team captain Nathan Sobey (21.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.8 assists) shooting the ball at 46 FG%, and both finishing among the top five scorers in the league. A solid local frontcourt of Matthew Hodgson (10.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks), Harry Froling (8.0 points, 4.9 rebounds) and Harrison (5.2 points, 5.8 rebounds), who collected a career high 18 rebounds in a game against Sydney, made sure the Bullets outrebounded most team’s, finishing third in offensive rebounding and second in defensive rebounds across the league.

Brisbane showcased what they ‘could be’ in a win over Illawarra (97-91) where Law (29 points and 9 rebounds) and Sobey (18 points and seven assists) piled on the points while Froling and Hodgson notched up 13 rebounds combined.

Memorable games for the team included a win against top-of-the-table Melbourne (96-88). Law (10 points, 15 rebounds and 4 assists) delivered his best rebounding effort to date, and Hodgson (24 points in 27 minutes) had a season-high scoring night as well and a win over Perth (95-92), where Law (23 points and 5 rebounds) and Sobey (31 points and 4 assists) would combine for 54 points, more than half the team’s score.

The high-scoring offence and strong rebounding still saw Brisbane (8-8) struggling to win half of their games. Orlando Johnson (6.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) was released mid-March after posting average numbers across 15 games, a move which coincided with New Zealand releasing Lamar Patterson after a niggling knee injury and sluggish start to the season.

Patterson (14.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.5 steals) returned to Brisbane, overcame the knee injury and set the stage for the Bullets to return to the playoffs, but a knee injury to Law in the very next game would rule him out for the rest of the season.

Brisbane (10-8) had been floating in and out of the top four, and while Sobey would attempt to fill the void created by Law’s injury, the Bullets would lose five of their next seven games, giving up a average of 90 points while putting up 80 of their own. This led to the mid-season signing of BJ Johnson (10.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 0.9 assists) who they hoped would help stem the bleeding, which it somewhat did, resulting in a 8-10 run to end the Bullets season.

Brisbane’s worst performance came against South East Melbourne (95-66) in round 19. With Sobey injured, Brisbane struggled to score at all, only putting up 66 for their season low. Anthony Drmic (20 points) and Patterson (11 points) were the only players putting up more than six points.

Despite flashes of brilliance, Brisbane stumbled to a sixth-place finish at the end of the season (18-18) and failed to reach the playoffs.

2021/22
Coming off the back of finishing sixth last season, it was announced that Andrej Lemanis was leaving the side after five years as head coach. After considering assistant coach and former Bullets player CJ Bruton for the role, they instead brought in former Sydney Kings assistant James Duncan as the team’s new head coach.

The Bullets were also forced to re-tool their roster, making several changes to key personnel. While import Lamar Patterson returned, the Bullets lost Vic Law to Perth, and with BJ Johnson signing a NBA deal with Orlando, they were unable to retain him either. Local bigs Matt Hodgson (to Perth), Harry Froling (to Illawarra) and development player Callum Dalton (to Melbourne) all headed elsewhere, looking for better opportunities.

Brisbane re-signed Tyrell Harrison (two-year deal) and Jason Cadee (two-year deal) and filled the remaining gaps with international flavour, signing Chuanxing Liu (China), Jack Salt (New Zealand), Deng Deng (South Sudan), Next Star Tom Digbeu (France) and import Robert Franks (USA).

In the opening game of the season, the Bullets fell short against the JackJumpers in Tasmania (74-83). While the overtime loss didn’t end the team’s season, it set the tone for the Bullets, who saw single-digit losses pile up against the league’s top team’s all season.

As the competition hit the halfway mark, Brisbane’s record was 5-9, and with injuries to Harrison (elbow) and star guard Nathan Sobey (knee), Brisbane struggled to find any rhythm during the second half of the season with the duo missing 11 and 16 games respectively.

Robert Franks (18.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 1.6 assists) was the Bullets high scorer in 13 games, and leading vote getter for the Leroy Loggins MVP Award (Club MVP). While leading the team in scoring, he shot 50% from the field and 76% from the free-throw line and finished fifth in the league for points per game.

Patterson (16.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.0 steals), Sobey (16.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists), and Jason Cadee (10.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists) were the only other players scoring in double figures.

This season new head coach James Duncan wanted the Bullets to be better defensively, at the start of the season the 44-year-old would have been impressed with how his team was playing defensively. However, Brisbane wasn’t able to maintain it, and its defence fluctuated throughout the year, it finished the year as the worst defensive team, conceding 89.3 points per game and finishing first for turnovers, averaging 14.6 per game.

Although the Bullets did show small glimpses of potential under the reigns of new coach Duncan, Brisbane would miss the finals for the third straight year, finishing in eighth place (10-18). Harrison 6.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks for the season, including his a career best of 14-points scored against Illawarra.

2022/23
After finishing second last the season prior, Brisbane loaded up by adding Boomers big man Aron Baynes and veteran guard Tyler Johnson who had been teammates while playing in the NBA with Phoenix.

Devondrick Walker (via NBL1) was signed as a second import and local talent Harry Froling (via Illawarra), Gorjok Gak (via Europe) and DJ Mitchell (via NBL1), son of former Bullets import Mike Mitchell, were also brought into the squad to complement the returning core of Harrison, Jason Cadee, Tanner Krebs and captain Nathan Sobey.

The Bullets off-season recruiting saw many in the media pencil them in as a top four team but with the health of both Sobey coming back from a knee injury that had kept him on the sidelines for half of NBL22 and Baynes returning to the court after a neck injury suffered at the Olympics almost left him paralysed, many questioned their ability to stay healthy.

Six games into the season and the Bullets had yet to win a game. Baynes (11.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 1.0 assists) was far from the NBA player he was 12 months earlier and Sobey (15.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 4.6 assists) recorded his lowest numbers for points and rebounds in five years.

Brisbane then recorded back-to-back wins, both against Illawarra. The first victory (82-56) on the back of a 17 point, 14 rebound effort from Baynes and the second (86-61) thanks to Sobey, scoring 14 first quarter points and 22 first half points, both career highs. The wins marking the first time Brisbane had won consecutive matches by at least 25-points since February 2007.

A two point victory over a strong Tasmanian team (74-72) gave them a three game winning streak, but just when things started to look positive, the decision was made to release underperforming import Walker (9.0 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.4 assists) and fire head coach James Duncan.

Walker was replaced by Andrew White (7.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 0.7 assists) and Duncan was replaced by General Manager Sam Mackinnon as interim coach, a move that lasted just three games before assistant coach and former Townsville Crocodile Greg Vanderjagt took the reins for the remainder of the season but the best of the Bullets season was behind them.

Reports of an untenable relationship between Bullets CEO Peter McLennan and Mackinnon become public and during that time, Brisbane suffered two catastrophic losses, one a 37-point loss to New Zealand which saw Sam Mackinnon suffer the biggest loss by a coach on debut since Alan Black in 1989 and the biggest defeat in the history of the NBL – a 49-point beating from Sydney. Brisbane finished second last again (8-20) with three of their eight wins coming against Illawarra, who recorded their worst season ever.

While Tyler Johnson (15.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.2 steals) was nominated for the league’s Sixth Man of the Year award (won by Barry Brown Jr), it was a season of massive underachievement individually and collectively that saw a mass exodus of players at the end of the year.

Tyrell managed only 14 games, as injuries limited his playing time for the second straight season. When Harrison (4.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 0.4 assists) was on the court, he was highly efficient averaging and shooting 82% from the field and his ability to play above the rim and presence on defence were a key asset for the Bullets roster.

2023/24
In 2023, Tyrell Harrison re-signed with Brisbane on a two-year deal, making him the longest serving player on the roster.

“This is a great signing for our Club now and into the future,” Schueller said on re-signing Harrison.

“Tyrell has shown that he is one of the most talented young big men in the league and for him to lock back in as we move forward in the new direction with the Club. His shot changing ability at the rim paired with his efficient ability to score are keys for us moving forward. It’s a exciting one-two punch with he and Baynsey together,” Schueller added.

Tyrell Harrison currently plays for the Brisbane Bullets and has played 117 games in his NBL career. He has averaged 6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 0.5 assists since entering the league in 2017.

CURRENT CONTRACT:

Brisbane Bullets – 2 Year Deal (2025-27)

Dan Boyce (811 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.