BIO: Alex Starling was born in Miami, Florida where he grew up in Richmond Heights and attended Leewood Elementary and Richmond Heights Middle School.

Starling attended Miami Killian Senior High School. As a senior in 2006/07, he was named First Team All-Dade, Second Team All State, First Team All-District and Killian High School Male Athlete of the Year. He averaged 20.8 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

Starling, initially arrived in Australia in 2011 to pursue a career in Australian Rules Football following a four-year collegiate basketball career in the NCAA, but returned to basketball in 2014 following stints with the Sydney Swans in the AFL and Frankston Dolphins in the VFL.

After signing a two-year, $180,000 contract with Sydney, his AFL career was cut short due to a lingering stress fracture in one of his legs saw him part ways with the Swans.

In December 2013, Starling moved to Melbourne to join the Frankston Football Club of the Victorian Football League (VFL). After the deal fell through over the summer, he moved to Adelaide in January 2014 to train with the Port Adelaide Magpies of the South Australian National Football League (SANFL); their parent organisation, the Port Adelaide Football Club of the AFL, was considering Starling for a international rookie spot. After several months training with Port, the club committed its international rookie spot to Irishman Daniel Flynn and wanted Starling to prove himself via the Magpies. Starling turned the offer down and instead turned his attention back to basketball, a move which would see him land a contract with the Adelaide 3ers in the NBL.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Alex Starling made his NBL debut with the Adelaide 36ers at 34 years of age. He scored two points in his first game.

On May 23, 2023, Starling became a Australian citizen and signed with the Adelaide 36ers for the 2023/24 NBL season.

“Alex has been dominating for a number of years at the local level and now he has a chance to take that next step,” Adelaide head coach CJ Bruton said after signing Starling.

“When everyone talks about Alex, he’s a proven winner, he can play both ends of the floor at a high-level and it’s fantastic he’s become a Australian citizen. The energy and the athleticism Alex bring will make us better.”

After a second disappointing season under coach CJ Bruton, several changes were made to their roster. Despite imports from last season, Robert Franks and  Antonius Cleveland both being contracted for a second season, they were allowed to exit their deals and pursue opportunities overseas.

Anthony Drmic (to Tasmania), Ian Clark (to Melbourne) and Kai Sotto (to Japan) all headed elsewhere, but perhaps the most significant loss for 36ers fans was the decision not to bring back big man Daniel Johnson after 13 years with the club.

Former Sixers Jason Cadee (via Brisbane), Isaac Humphries (via Melbourne) and import Jacob Wiley all returned to the club to provide much-needed leadership. In addition to Starling, new faces to the squad included Trentyn Flowers, courtesy of the Next Stars program, and imports Trey Kell (via South East Melbourne) and Jamaal Franklin.

Franklin’s time with the club was brief; being handed his released during the middle of the NBL Blitz. In a similar fashion to last season, Adelaide got off to yet another slow start (with a 1-4 record) before signing DJ Vasiljevic, who had exited his contract with Sydney early to sign a deal to play with Washington in the NBA, before being released on the eve on the NBL season.

Vasiljevic (19.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists) added instant firepower to the squad, but after a horrendous loss to Tasmania, where Adelaide’s inability to shoot both inside (29 per cent from the field) and beyond the three-point line (2-11) saw them produce their equal-lowest score since the beginning of the 40-minute era (59-94), Bruton was shown his walking papers. With the team sitting bottom of the ladder (4-9), Bruton was replaced by assistant coach Scott Ninnis, who had coached the team previously from 2008-2010 and managed to turn things around in the second half of the season after an impressive January (5-1) which saw Adelaide back contending for a playoff spot.

Adelaide finished the season as the second-best rebounding team, averaging 43.5 rebounds per game, but also the worst in the competition from behind the three-point line (shooting 29.9 per cent).

Kell (17.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.1 steals) and Humphries (15.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks) both delivered career-best seasons, and Wiley (10.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists) led the team in rebounding.

Ultimately, the revitalised side finished a win and percentage away from competing in the Play-In Tournament (12 wins, 16 losses) with Mccarron averaging 3.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 0.6 assists across 25 games.

Alex Starling currently plays for the Adelaide 36ers and has played 31 games in his NBL career. He has averaged 3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 0.5 assists since entering the league in 2023.

CURRENT CONTRACT:

Adelaide 36ers – 1 Year Deal (2024-25)

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.