NBL EXPERIENCE

Jack Andrew made his NBL debut with the Perth Wildcats at 21 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

After missing the playoffs for the first time in 35 years under Canadian coach, Scott Morrison announced he was leaving after just one season so he could return home for family reasons. In his place, the Wildcat’s appointed former Townsville Crocodiles star John Rillie as the club’s new head coach on a three-year deal.

Perth retained the majority of its roster, with only Kevin White (to Illawarra) and Matt Hodgson (to Taiwan) not returning. Perth re-signed Bryce Cotton (3 Year Deal), Todd Blanchfield (3 Year Deal) and Jesse Wagstaff (1 Year Deal) and elevated backup guard Kyle Zunic from development player to the full roster. Corey Webster, who the Wildcats had signed to a deal in 2017 only to see him leave before the season started, signed as a free agent. To round out the roster, imports TaShawn Thomas (France) and Brady Manek (North Carolina) were added for some additional scoring punch.

Rillie’s squad began the season nicely, notching up three wins in a row and looking like the Wildcat’s of old as they sat on top of the NBL ladder. This was then met with a five game losing streak and drop to seventh place, where they hung around until the final month of the season.

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With six games remaining in the regular season, Perth added Tai Webster to their roster after he was released from his team in Turkey, reuniting him with his brother Corey. Following the signing of Webster, Corey Shervill was released from the Wildcat’s 11-man roster.

The team’s final three games saw them lose to Tasmania (102–94) after allowing the JackJumpers to outscore them 27-15 across the final 10 minutes. A crucial loss to Cairns Taipans (84-71) set up a nail-biting last round where Perth needed to defeat the league leading Sydney Kings to avoid elimination. On the back of a upset victory (96-84) Perth (15-13) claimed sixth place on the ladder and advanced into the league’s inaugural play-in tournament.

After defeating the South East Melbourne Phoenix they would fall short against the Cairns Taipans and miss out on making the semi finals for the second year in a row. Andrew saw limited opportunities to play, appearing in only one game for the season.

2023/24
After missing the NBL playoffs in 2023, Perth decided to re-tool the roster after losing NBA talent Luke Travers (to Melbourne) aquiring highly coveted free agent Keanu Pinder (via Cairns) and promising rookie Ben Henshall.

Henshall’s signing would culminate with the Wildcats decision to buy out Todd Blanchfield (to Illawarra) and Mitchell Norton (to Brisbane) from their contracts, allowing Perth to bring in some younger talent to boost the squad after two consecutive years of missing the playoffs. 18 year old French tyro Alexandre Sarr was acquired via the Next Star Program, import players Jordan Usher and Kristian Doolittle were added to the roster and David Okwera (via Melbourne), a Perth junior talent, signed to a multi-year deal.

Perth’s season began with a season-opening victory over Tasmania, where Usher (35 points) set RAC Arena alight in his Wildcats debut, scoring the most points ever in a Wildcat debut.

The new look roster struggled after that, however, losing five of their next six games, which culminated in a loss to Brisbane where fans and media began calling for a new head coach.

Perenial league MVP Cotton was also a key factor in the slow start, with a new offence run through guards Tai and Corey Webster, seeing him left routinely in the corners. Cotton’s lack of contact with the ball even resulted in his wife taking to social media and calling for change, something which made national headlines.

The Bullets loss prompted new addition Pinder (13.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.7 steals) to publicly promote that the team would win their next five games. His deep fortune-telling proceeded in the Wildcats, turning their season around.

After a poor showing across the team’s first seven games, Bryce Cotton (22.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.5 steals) broke out of his early-season offensive slump, scoring 29 points in a dominant win over Adelaide on November 4 and from this game onwards, he was the point guard of old.

In December, he dropped a season-high 41 points in a December 1 triumph over Sydney and across an eight-game span from December 15 to January 21, Cotton averaged 30.4 points, including four 30-point games and, in the process, sealed the MVP conversation.

The Wildcats’ success also came from a number of key moves from Rillie, moving Usher (12.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists) into a sixth-man role and bringing Hyrum Harris (5.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.4 assists) into the starting line-up. Harris instantly brought a level of competitiveness and defensive intensity to the squad, diving on the hardwood for a loose ball or flying in from the baseline to pluck an offensive rebound.

Cotton claimed his fourth MVP award at the end of the season as Perth’s hot form saw them finish in second place (17-11), but saw their season end with a semifinal series loss to eventual champions Tasmania.

Andrew appeared in only two games for the season, scoring a total of two points.

Jack Andrew currently plays for the Perth Wildcats and has played 3 games in his NBL career. He has averaged 0.6 points, 0 rebounds, and 0 assists since entering the league in 2022.

CURRENT CONTRACT:

Perth Wildcats – 2 Year Deal (2022-24)

Dan Boyce (798 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.