BIO: Daniel Carlin was born in Rose Park (SA) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Central Districts basketball program. Carlin received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 2009. He spent one year there and played for the program’s state league team.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Daniel Carlin made his NBL debut with the Adelaide 36ers at 22 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

After finishing third with a 17-11 record before being swept by eventual champion New Zealand in the 2014/15 semifinals, Adelaide entered Joey Wright’s third season after club MVP Jamar Wilson (to Rouen), Brock Motum (to Žalgiris Kaunas) and Luke Schenscher (to Townsville) departed. Wright added Kenyon McNeail (via Oliveirense), two-time NBL champion Ebi Ere (via Bayamón), Lucas Walker (via Melbourne), Matthew Hodgson (via Frankston) and Nathan Sobey (via Cairns). The Central Districts forward joined Adelaide as a development player after Wright selected him for his team at the Worldwide Invitational in Las Vegas, where he impressed enough to remain under consideration for a squad position.

Carlin (0 points) made his NBL debut against defending champion New Zealand at Titanium Security Arena on October 7, playing 3:21 from the bench as Adelaide opened the season with a 90-71 win. Johnson (15 points, 8 rebounds, and 1 block) and Gibson (11 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, and 1 steal) were among Adelaide’s leaders, while Cedric Jackson (14 points and 6 assists) led New Zealand.

Carlin (0.2 points across 9 games) remained outside Wright’s regular rotation as a development player, coming off the bench in all nine appearances. His only NBL points came against Perth on October 10, where Carlin (2 points) played 3:13 and made his only field-goal attempt as Adelaide fell 79-66 at Titanium Security Arena. Creek (13 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, and 2 blocks) was Adelaide’s second-leading scorer, while Jermaine Beal (18 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal) led Perth.

McNeail (4 points across 3 games) (released) was let go on October 19 after the shoulder injury he suffered during the preseason dunk contest failed to respond to treatment. Jerome Randle (via Eskişehir Basket) was signed as his replacement after spending the previous five seasons overseas. Randle (23 points and 5.2 assists across 23 games) later said he had begun to “fall out of love” with basketball before Wright told him, “If you don’t play your game, then you’re gonna f***in’ sit on the bench!” The outburst struck a chord with Randle, who remembered thinking, “Damn, I’m at home now”.

Carlin’s best game came against Perth at Perth Arena on December 4, where Carlin (0 points and 6 rebounds) received a season-high 13:08 and attempted three shots as the Wildcats defeated Adelaide 90-72. Randle (18 points) and Petrie (17 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 block) led Adelaide, while Casey Prather (23 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, and 1 block) was Perth’s best.

Johnson (15.5 points and 9.3 rebounds across 28 games) led the NBL in rebounding and earned All-NBL Second Team honours, while Randle finished as the league’s leading scorer, becoming the first Adelaide player to do so, won the inaugural NBL Australia Post Fan’s MVP and was selected to the All-NBL First Team. Carlin was not retained for 2016/17 and returned to the Central District Lions as Adelaide finished fifth with a 14-14 record and missed the playoffs.

Daniel Carlin played one season in the NBL. He averaged 0.2 points, 1 rebounds, and 0.1 assists in 9 NBL games.