NICKNAME/S: The Man Mountain

BIO: Dean Uthoff was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (USA) and measuring in at 208 cm and 119 kgs, Uthoff is one of the largest and most physical players to have ever played in Australia.

FAMILY: His third cousin Jarrod Uthoff also played basketball at Iowa State before playing in the NBA.

Dean’s brother, Ed, also distinguished himself in college ball and was team captain at San Jose State.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Dean Uthoff made his NBL debut with the Nunawading Spectres at 24 years of age. He scored 20 points in his first game.

In 1983, Uthoff averaged 16.2 points, 14.6 rebounds, and 3.4 assists as the Spectres finished with a record of 15-7 and in fifth place during the regular season.

1984
Coach Barry Barnes led the Spectres to a record of 14 wins, 9 losses in 1984 which saw them finish in fourth place in the NBL’s Western Division. Due to the size of the league (the NBL featured 17 team’s at this time), the NBL finals series in 1984 consisted of the elimination-style divisional finals, two semi-final games, and one championship-deciding grand final.

Nunawading would defeat Adelaide, 108–101 in their Elimination Final before losing to Geelong in the Qualifying Finals, 91–115, in the next game.

Uthoff would lead the league in rebounding this season and average 20.1 points, 18.5 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game. His 18.5 rebounds per game remains the highest single season rebound total of all-time.

1985
In 1985 Uthoff faced a number of injuries that saw him play in only two games before sitting out the rest of the season.

He would spend the 1986 and 1987 seasons playing in the state leagues as he rehabilitated the injury before returning to the Spectres (who had since been re-named to the Eastside Melbourne Spectres in 1988). During his time away from the NBL Uthoff had become a naturalised Australian and played as a local player from 1988 onwards.

EASTSIDE MELBOURNE SPECTRES
1988
After the Spectres chose not to re-sign Barry Barnes (who had been the Spectres head coach since they entered the NBL), former Melbourne Tigers player, Brian Goorjian, who had been coaching Ballarat in the Victorian State League was named as his successor. Goorjian’s arrival wasn’t exactly a warm one. With some team members feeling that Barnes’ assistant coach Colin Cadee should have been given the job, a number of players signed a petition to prevent Goorjian from getting the role.

Once appointed as head coach Goorjian, import Bruce Bolden and Brendan Joyce left for rival club Westside Melbourne and Peter Blight headed to Hobart. Goorjian retained the younger players on the roster, Ron Lemons, Warren Pink, Steve Lunardon, Shane Froling and Darren Lucas and but decided not to re-sign the team’s leading scorer from last season, Vince Hinchen. Instead, he would look to find a import better suited to the new look roster.

Goorjian struggled to find the right US talent to balance out the team. His first import, Kevin Ross (14.0 points, 3.5 rebounds), lasted only two games before being sent back to the US, and his replacement Quentin Anderson (12.0 points, 9.5 rebounds), wasn’t much better and was also given the axe after two games. Goorjian had also signed Harvard University’s leading scorer Arne Duncan to pair with the aforementioned Ross and Anderson. Duncan (24.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists) was a totally different story. A blue-chip athlete who went on the lead the team in scoring and in fact, packed a suitcase and flew to Australia with just a week’s notice after narrowly missing out on a contract with the Boston Celtics.

Mid-season Goorjian then signed Rick Sharpe (19.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists), who had played for his father Ed Goorjian at the University of Loyola.

By the time Eastside had got its import situation sorted they were already 0-6 which included losses to both Hobart and Sydney, both among the league’s weakest team’s that season.

Uthoff lead the league in rebounding and average 18.3 points, 17.2 rebounds, and 4.3 assists. Eastside finished the season with 11 wins, 13 losses, and in the eleventh spot, leading Goorjian to describe the season as a ‘disaster’. Lucas would go on to be named the league’s Most Improved Player that year in one of the few positives of the Spectres season.

1989
After a import merry-go-round and lacklustre season in coach Brian Goorjian’s first year, he looked to create some stability within the franchise. He re-signed import Arne Duncan, last year’s leading scorer and paired him with import Ben Tower, a Michigan native who had been drafted by the Detroit Pistons five years earlier.

The Spectres retained the core group of last season’s roster, team captain Warren Pink, Dean Uthoff, the league’s leading rebounder and the league’s most improved player Darren Lucas. The rest of the roster was built around a bunch of young talent, with Shane Froling, Paul Hotchin and Steve Lunardon all returning with one more season of experienced, 17-year-old Spectres junior player Rupert Sapwell and 24-year-old Wayne Larkins from Westside Melbourne.

During the pre-season, Duncan suffered a injury that saw him miss the first half of the regular season.

The Spectres then signed Kent Lockhart, who had been playing in the state league for Sandringham, as an injury replacement for Duncan. Goorjian, who had been playing pickup basketball games against state league players during the offseason, was impressed by his ability to play both sides of the ball.

Lockhart (28.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists) led the team in scoring, and made such a impact on the team that when Duncan returned from injury, the team released Ben Tower and signed Lockhart to the full-time roster. With Duncan putting up big numbers again (28.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.6 assists) and Dean Uthoff (18.6 points, 17.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists) leading the league in rebounding for a second consecutive year, the Specres finished the year on a four-game winning streak. Lockhart, who posted a incredible 47 points against the Newcastle Falcons in Round 18, was named to the All-NBL First Team, and with Eastside Melbourne improved from a 11-13 to 14-12 record, leaving Spectres’ fans very optimistic for next season.

1990
Eastside had been slowly improving each season since Brian Goorjian was appointed head coach in 1988, and by 1990 many of the core group that had been a part of the roster when Goorjian took over had developed from junior talent to highly productive NBL players.

The only changes to the local roster were the exits of veterans Paul Hotchins and Warren Pink, who were then replaced with Darren Perry (Brisbane) and Nunawading junior Tony Ronaldson, who had just completed a year at the Australian Institute of Sport. The departure of import Arne Duncan then made room for the return of former Spectre Bruce Bolden.

To kick off the season, Eastside was tipped to be the big improvers of 1990 after finishing ‘best of the rest’ the year prior. The team started off by winning its first three games on the schedule, but over the course of the season, the team never seemed to be able to beat the league’s best. While they knocked off the majority of the league, losses they couldn’t see to deliver wins against elite team’s like Perth, Brisbane and North Melbourne. In Round 21, Eastside turned things around with a win over crosstown rivals North Melbourne (118-111), but then followed that up with a 3-2 run home.

Despite this, Eastside still managed to finish second on the ladder thanks to a impressive 10-3 home record. Lockhart (27.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.3 steals) returned a better player in his second year in the league, leading the team in scoring and being selected to the All-NBL Second Team. Bolden (26.4 points, 11.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.2 blocks) filled the stat sheet most games and Uthoff (17.9 points and 13.6 rebounds) led the team in rebounding once again. Perry (10.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 5.6 assists) running the point guard spot was a big part of the Spectres improvement from 14-10 last season, to 16-8 in 1990.

Due to finishing in second place, Eastside received a first-round bye then met Brisbane, who eliminated Sydney in the elimination finals, in the semi final. This was the first time a Goorjian coached team had reached the semi finals but they were eliminated by the Bullets amidst little fanfare in two straight games.

1991
After making the playoffs for the first time in three years, coach Brian Goorjian was able to bring back almost the entire squad for another shot at the championship, the team’s only key loss being bruising forward Shane Froling, who was replaced with Scott Ninnis.

Behind Eastside’s formidable frontcourt, led by Bruce Bolden (27.2 ppg and 10.4 rpg) and Kent Lockhart (18.6 ppg and 5.7 rpg) the Spectres finished the season with a 17-9 record. Uthoff also contributed 16.8 points, 13.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists as Eastside finished in second place, earning them a first-round bye in the playoffs. Eastside would then eliminate North Melbourne, 2–0 in the semifinals before facing off against the Perth Wildcats, who had finished the season in first place (22-4) and eliminated the Adelaide 36ers in their semi-final matchup. The Grand Final series would see Perth come away victorious with a 109-83 win in game one before the Spectres evened things up with a 86-81 win in game two. Behind the stellar play from Perth imports Ricky Grace and Pete Hanson, who would be awarded the Grand Final MVP, Perth defeated Eastside in the deciding game, 90-80.

SYDNEY KINGS
1992
In 1992, Uthoff averaged 16.9 points, 12.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists as the Kings finished with a record of 17-7 and in second place during the regular season.

1993
In 1993, Uthoff averaged 9.6 points, 12 rebounds, and 2.2 assists, playing a key role in the King’s rotation, helping the team finish reach a first place finish in the regular season with a 11-15 record.

1994
After three seasons of import duo Dwayne McClain and Ken McClary, Kings coach Bob Turner chose to go in a different direction in 1994. With rumours of McClain’s rise in popularity leading to difficulties in coaching the star, the decision was made not to re-sign McLain and McClary and find younger talent to replace them. Coach Bob Turner signed swingman Mario Donaldson, who he spotted playing with Omaha during the 1993 CBA championship season.

He paired Donaldson with a relatively unknown forward, Leon Trimmingham, who had played at Briar Cliff University and was recommended to Turner by former Hobart coach Dr David Atkins.

The majority of the remaining roster was retained, with the only major loss being Tony De Ambrosis (to Gold Coast), who was replaced with young guns Neil Turner and Brad Williams.

Sydney came out on fire to start the season. With Trimmingham, whose nightly pyrotechnics drew crowds to the Kingdome like moths to a flame, leading the team in scoring and Donaldson’s deadly outside scoring and lockdown defence, Sydney defeated South East Melbourne Magic on opening night and won three games in a row before losing their first game of the season in Perth.

At the halfway mark (8-3), the Kings looked like a title contender, but the lack of experience amongst the roster started to show, and Sydney went 8-7 for the remainder of the year and narrowly scraped into the playoffs in seventh place (16-10).

The Kings would face the second-placed North Melbourne Giants in the first round of the playoffs, entering the series as decided underdogs, especially given that North Melbourne had whipped them in two regular-season meetings. However, in Game One of the series, the Kings had other ideas. In front of a disbelieving Monday night crowd of 9,092, Sydney rocketed out of the blocks, taking advantage of some fatigue from the Giants, who were playing their third road game in four days. But the home team showed no mercy, hitting one long bomb after another, going on a 11-0 run in the first 71 seconds. At the end of the first period, the Kings were up 43-25 and the Giants simply didn’t know what had hit them. The Kings kept firing away from the outside and kept knocking them down, and by halftime, the game was over. The Kings received a standing ovation as they returned to the changing rooms with a 26 point lead at halftime (77-51).

The second half was a mere formality as the purple and gold cruised to the win, but the biggest story to come out of the game was Sydney’s unbelievable performance from the perimeter, with the team setting a franchise playoff record by knocking down 15 three-pointers from just 18 attempts – a success rate beyond the arc of a absurd 83.3%. It was arguably the greatest three-point shooting exhibition ever by a team in a NBL playoff game.

The Kings finished the game having hit 15 of 18 three-point shots. Greg Hubbard was the chief destroyer, going eight of nine from long distance and finishing with 32 points in just 28 minutes of court time, and he had plenty of help. Mario Donaldson went three of four from the outside as part of his 27-point performance, and co-captain Damian Keogh chipped in with four threes at 80% in his near triple-double of 18 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.

Once the series returned to Melbourne the Giants returned to their winning ways, defeating the Kings in game two (112-91) and game three (104-95). North Melbourne would then go on to win the NBL Championship.

Trimmingham (27.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.2 blocks) led the team in points, rebounds and blocks while becoming a fan favourite across the league. Donaldson (22.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals) and Greg Hubbard (18.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists) provided the additional scoring and Uthoff also contributed 8.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists.

1995
After a great start to the 1994 season, the Kings collapsed during the second half of the year with the team’s young roster felt to be the cause. Veteran talent Phil Smyth (Adelaide), Justin Withers (Canberra) and import Bruce Bolden (SE Melbourne), who would replace fan favourite Mario Donaldson, would bring the experience required in spades.

The Kings starting lineup had increased from the average age of 28 to 31, which meant although they had added a ton of experience, this roster would only have one or two years to make it count.

The season started with a narrow 85-86 loss to Bolden’s former team, the Magic, before a up-and-down season, where the Kings defeated a number of league’s top team’s but failed to close out games against those at the bottom of the ladder. Sydney would start the season with a 3-6 record, which included wins over Perth and North Melbourne, who would finish first and third, respectively, but suffered back-to-back losses to Canberra (who would finish tenth) and lost games to Townsville (finished 12th) and Gold Coast (finished 13th).

Leon Trimmingham (27.5 points, 11.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 2.1 steals and 2.2 blocks) was named Kings team MVP after leading the team in scoring, rebounds, steals and blocks as Bolden (20.5 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals) and captain Damian Keogh (14.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.6 steals) provided the additional scoring power. Sydney finished the season in tenth place with a record of 10-16 and failed to reach the playoffs.

Uthoff averaged 4 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 0.8 assists for the season.

1996
During the 1996 season, Uthoff averaged 0.5 points, 2 rebounds, and 1.5 assists and was a part of the Kings squad which finished in fifth place with a record of 16-10.

The Iowa State centre led the NBL in rebounding three times throughout his 12-season career and of the top six highest rebounding games in NBL history, Uthoff owns four of them, including a all-time NBL record of 34 boards vs. Hobart. Just as impressive was his career-shooting percentage at 60.3 percent, and at no surprise also led the NBL three times in that category.

Uthoff was a four-time NBL All-Star (1988-91) and he finished third in the league MVP voting twice (1988, 1989) during his time with the Spectres.

He ranks third all-time in the NBL for career field goal percentage at 60% and is also ranked in the NBL’s top ten all-time in offensive, defensive and total career rebounds. One of the true giants of the competition, Uthoff wrapped up his outstanding NBL career in 1996 at the age of 38 as a member of the Sydney Kings. The organization named Uthoff as one of their “legends” in their 25th anniversary celebration in 2013.

Dean Uthoff played twelve seasons across three NBL teams. This included the Nunawading Spectres, Eastside Melbourne Spectres and Sydney Kings. He averaged 14.4 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in 260 NBL games.

CAREER RANKINGS:
– 12th in total rebounds
– 7th in rebounds per game.

HIGHLIGHTS:

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.