BIO: Jarrell Brantley was born in Charleston, South Carolina (USA) and attended Notre Dame Preparatory [Fitchburg, Massachusetts]. He later went on to play college ball at the College of Charleston (2015-2019) in his home state.

FAMILY: Jarrell’s brother, Jamaal Brantley also played 2 games in the NBL.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Jarrell Brantley made his NBL debut with the New Zealand Breakers at 26 years of age. He scored 10 points in his first game.

With the departure of Dan Shamir, assistant Mody Maor was elevated to head coach, with the Breakers entering their first season where they would play regular home games in two seasons.

The Breakers lost six of their top eight players (Yanni Wetzell, Hugo Besson, Peyton Siva, Finn Delany, Ousmane Dieng and Chasson Randle), and only Thomas Abercrombie, Robert Loe and William McDowell-White returning from the previous season.

Tom Vodanovich (via Sydney), Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’Afa and Cameron Gliddon (both via South East Melbourne) were added for defence and perimeter shooting off the bench. At the same time, Dererk Pardon, Jarrell Brantley and Barry Brown Jr were signed as import players. Utilising the NBL Next Star Program, the team also added French NBA prospect Rayan Rupert.

With Abercrombie missing the first month of the season due to suffering a torn retina the Breakers’ season began with a loss to Melbourne, a game which gave little indication to the defensive behemoth they were set to become in NBL23 but four rounds into the season, they already equalled their total number of wins from the previous campaign.

The Breakers started round five with a 99-70 beatdown of the Adelaide 36ers, which included a dominant effort from both Brown Jr (22 points) and Brantley (22 points and four steals) to force the 36ers into 18 turnovers while the Breakers went 15 of 30 from long distance.

Two nights later, New Zealand posted their biggest victory ever at Spark Arena with a 94-62 victory over the Tasmania JackJumpers. The win also resulted in the Breakers overtaking Sydney Kings to sit atop the NBL ladder.

In round 3, Jarrell was joined on the Breakers roster by his brother Jamaal, who signed as an injury replacement player for Abercrombie who missed the first few games of the season with a eye injury. Although the pairing was brief, with Jamaal being released shortly after Abercrombie’s return to health, the Breakers pair became the first duo of import brothers to ever feature together at NBL level.

Last night the Brantley bros became the first
pair of import siblings to take the floor in a NBL game
together!! ????#UNBREAKABLE pic.twitter.com/zHbIjlu5Rd

— Sky Sport New Zealand Breakers (@NZBreakers) October 18, 2022

After two seasons living out of suitcases, the Breakers had revived themselves as a contender this season, and the following game saw a top of the table clash against Sydney that more than lived up to the hype. The Kings’ led comfortably for most of the game, but a late run from New Zealand, who outscored them 31-17 in the last 10 minutes behind Barry Brown Jr (22 points), who had settled into a sixth man role, narrowed the gap but failed to complete what would have been a epic fight back. The Breakers fell short 81-77 while also losing Rupert for two months with a broken wrist.

The Breakers returned to their winning ways against Adelaide the following week behind a huge fourth quarter from Barry Brown Jr, who scored 14 of his 22 points in the final term. The 89-83 victory saw Pardon notch up 19 points and 10 rebounds to continue his dominance on the glass (recording his third double-double in four games), and Brantley also adding 17 points and 10 rebounds.

A season-high 29 points from Brantley powered the Breakers to 116-79 win over Brisbane, New Zealand then dismantled the South East Melbourne Phoenix (110-84) with Brantley scoring 18 points and Brown Jr exploding for a career high 31 points (shooting 61% from the floor). A loss to Perth (84-92) briefly slowed the Breakers’ momentum, but even after the loss to the Wildcats, New Zealand entered December having won 11 from 13 contests.

The Taipans removed New Zealand from their second spot on the ladder, defeating them, 85-83 without star Keanu Pinder. Although Abercrombie got a good look at three with 4.9 seconds to play, it was short and the Snakes prevailed. Will McDowell-White (29 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 7/10 from three) and Jarrell Brantley (25 points, 14 rebounds, 5 steals) were the stars for New Zealand.

With the Breakers sitting on a four-game losing streak Brantley had one of his best games (30 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists) and delivered a 93-88 win over the Sydney Kings thanks to a clutch three-point bank shot with 13.7 seconds left. Brantley’s hot streak continued as he led the team with 22 points in a convincing 99-71 win against the Brisbane Bullets that improved their record to 15-10 on the season, just one win behind the second placed Cairns Taipans. The Breakers locked in a playoff spot with after defeating Melbourne United 80-74, Brantley again leading the way for New Zealand with 18 points.

The last month of the season saw the Breakers survive a mighty scare from the Illawarra Hawks to record a 91-81 victory and retake second position from the Taipans. The bottom placed Hawks took a stunning 16-point lead into halftime before New Zealand flipped a switch and outscored Illawarra 29-9 in the third quarter. Barry Brown Jr led the way for the Breakers with 22 points off the bench while Jarrell Brantley added 20 points and 6 rebounds. The win allowed New Zealand to leapfrog Cairns and finish second overall during the regular season.

Jarrell Brantley appeared in every game for the Breakers and averaged 16.2 points, 6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists 1.5 steals as New Zealand finished the regular season in second place with a 18–10 record. Brantley was named Breakers MVP with the team clinching their first playoff appearance in five years.

With Tasmania having defeated Cairns (87-79) and advancing through the NBL play-in tournament, the Breakers semi-final opponents were set. New Zealand smashed Tasmania, 88-68, in Game 1 of the Playoffs. It was a wire-to-wire victory for New Zealand, as Mody Maor’s men established a 16-point first half lead. Tasmania got the deficit back to two at halftime before the Breakers exploded with a 49-31 second half. Big man Dererk Pardon imposed his will for New Zealand with 15 points and 9 rebounds, while Will McDowell-White had 13 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds. Rashard Kelly was the JackJumpers’ leading scorer with 12.

The JackJumpers ‘defended the island’ in game two, defeating the Breakers 89-78. Milton Doyle starred for Tasmania, as he poured in 23 points, with several of those coming during a game defining run across the third and fourth quarters. Jack McVeigh added 16 for the victors. Dererk Pardon recorded a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Breakers, and Jarrell Brantley had 17 points and 9 rebounds.

New Zealand then punched their ticket to the NBL Championship Series with a gritty 92-77 semi-final win over the Ants in game three at home. Brown Jr proved the difference, finishing with 32 points (10/16 and 2/2 from deep) and three steals to guide the Breakers to their first Championship Series for the first time since 2016. Dererk Pardon (15 points, 14 rebounds) was also huge for the Breakers with a monster double-double, while Jarrell Brantley (14 points, seven rebounds) was also a big factor in the win.

On the opposite side of the bracket, Sydney eliminated Cairns to reach the championship series but suffered a surprise home defeat from New Zealand, who had struggled against the Kings all season, claiming game one, 95-87, in front of 13,145 shocked Kings fans. William McDowell-White (19 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists) starred for New Zealand, with Barry Brown Jr (19 points off the bench) and Jarrell Brantley (16 points and 7 rebounds) playing key minutes also. Simon was the Kings’ leading scorer with 18 points and 6 steals as the Kings’ leading scorer, Derek Walton Jr was forced to leave the game in the last quarter with a injured leg.

Sydney entered Game two with no Xavier Cooks, and on the Breakers’ home floor at Spark Arena. New Zealand’s case for victory got even stronger when Kings’ leading scorer Derrick Walton Jr managed just four minutes of game time.

With the Kings missing their two best players, the Breakers playing at home, it was expected to be a easy win for New Zealand. Up stepped Justin Simon and the Kings’ backup brigade to snatch the win away from New Zealand, 81-74.

Returning to Sydney, the Kings took a 2-1 lead behind a dominant 91-68 victory over the Breakers in front of the biggest crowd in NBL history. 18,049 fans poured into Qudos Bank Arena, the biggest attendance ever for a NBL game, and watched Walton Jr shake off his injury concerns to notch up 12 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds.

Game four delivered a Breakers win in Auckland (80-70), extending the series to five games. Brantley (23 points), MacDowell-White (19 points) and Brown Jr (20 points) all coming up big in the do-or-die game for New Zealand. Derrick Walton Jr (18 points) and Angus Glover (12 points) finished as Sydney’s leading scorers.

Then in game five, the Breakers were up by 11 points in the first quarter before being pegged back. They then took another heavy lead deep into the fourth quarter, but the Kings put together a 14-0 scoring run to once again snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

The Kings were able to squeeze a few extra fans into Qudos Bank Arena for game five, breaking the record for fan attendance which they had set in their previous home game with 18,124 in attendance. In one of the greatest championship games in history, Sydney put together a 14-0 run in the final quarter to secure the victory (77-69) and win their first back-to-back titles since their 2003-2005 three-peat. Derrick Walton Jr (21 points and 6 assists) was named the Finals MVP while Cooks (19 points and 11 rebounds) efforts were also key to the victory. Brown Jr (22 points off the bench) was top scorer for the Breakers.

67,811 fans attended the Championship Series, the highest Grand Final attendance in NBL history.

Jarrell Brantley played one season in the NBL. He averaged 16.3 points, 6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in 35 NBL games.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Jarrell Brantley shone on both ends of the court for us, so it’s no surprise he’s heading back to the Utah Jazz. Watch his best moments from the NBL23 season ????#UNBREAKABLE pic.twitter.com/qWyYGpfyQs

— Sky Sport New Zealand Breakers (@NZBreakers) March 18, 2023

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.