BIO: Lual-Acuil was born in Wau, South Sudan. Due to the civil war, he was relocated to a refugee camp in Uganda at the age of three where he lived for three years until his family moved to Australia. Lual-Acuil attended Kingsway Christian College in Perth, where he played high school basketball with friend (and future NBL player) Majok Majok. Lual Acuil received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 2012. He spent two years year there and played for the program’s state league team (2012).

FAMILY: Lual-Acuil’s father, Joseph, was South Sudan’s first Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Jo Lual Acuil made his NBL debut with the Melbourne United at 25 years of age. He scored eight points in his first game.

On 20 August 2019, Lual-Acuil signed with Melbourne United who had began the season with a complete rehaul of its roster. The team chose not to re-sign imports Casper Ware and Josh Boone, released Daniel Trist and lost young forward Craig Moller when he signed with Sydney as a free agent.

United then signed Lual-Acuil, Shea Ili (who played under Dean Vickerman during his time at the Breakers) and Jack Purchase as the team’s development player. Vickerman then added import duo Melo Trimble from Cairns and Shawn Long via New Zealand who were friends, having played together for the USA National Team. Rounded out the squad David Barlow, Alex Pledger, Tohi Smith-Milner and Casey Prather re-signed with the club.

Casey Prather would agree to a two-year deal, seeing the import forward return to the team for a second stint but after Prather missed the first seven games of the season due to injury, question marks were raised upon the signing. Once he returned to the court he could only muster averages of 9.3 points and 3.3 rebounds, far below his career numbers. He underwent another knee clean-out shortly after and managed to play in six of the next eight games before being ruled out for the rest of the season due to a right hamstring tear. United would sign former NBA talent Stanton Kidd as his injury replacement.

This resulted in United losing four of their first five games of the season and with reports of a rift between players, a coach under pressure and frustrated supporters, the club looked completely rattled. By late-November however, United sat third on the ladder (7-4) behind six consecutive wins were the highest scoring team in the competition (99.7 points-per-game). Melo Trimble (19.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.2 steals) would lead United in scoring, alongside Long (18.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks) and Captain Chris Goulding (17.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists).

Lual Acuil finished the season averaging 5.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 0.7 assists while Melbourne recovered from a poor start to the season and finished in fourth place (15-13).

Melbourne would then face Sydney in the semifinals where despite

Long (23 points, 10 rebounds, and 1 block) controlling the inside and a huge scoring effort by Trimble (34 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals) coming off the bench, United would lose game one (80-86) in Sydney. Xavier Cooks (21 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists) and Jae’Sean Tate (19 points and 5 rebounds) doing most of the damage for the Kings.

They returned to Melbourne for game two where United would even the series, thanks to a combined effort from their import trio, with Long (26 points and 11 rebounds), Trimble (21 points and 2 steals) and Kidd (18 points and 4 rebounds) all delivering when it counted. The damage was done during the second quarter, where United outscored the Kings 32-7, a lead that allowed them to win by 45 points at full time (125-80). Tate (18 points and 6 rebounds) led Sydney in scoring. The series decider was played at Qudos Bank Arena, in a game that came down to the final seconds. Goulding (19 points and 3 assists) led Melbourne in scoring, but Tate (20 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists) and the Kings were able to come away with a two point win, and proceed to the Grand Final, ending United’s season.

2020/21
After multiple seasons trying to get import Casey Prather back onto the court, both United and Prather mutually agreed to terminate the second season of his contract. Melbourne would then rejig their roster by adding Jack White (via Duke University) and Japanese star Yudai Baba (one-year deal), who signed with the team on an NBL Special Restricted Player contract. The team also re-signed team captain Chris Goulding (three-year deal), David Barlow (one year deal), Mason Peatling (three year deal) and Sam McDaniel (one year deal). United would rely on their local talent this season, signing Scotty Hopson (via Europe) as their lone import for the season and, as their last move, was able to sign Australian Boomers forward Jock Landale (one-year deal) mere weeks prior to the season tip-off, after his Lithuania contracted was voided due to Covid Travel Restrictions.

United suffered a huge set-back during the first month of the season when rookie Jack White, who was averaging 10 points and 6 rebounds as a starter and was a strong pick for the rookie of the year award suffered a season-ending Achilles injury against the Cairns Taipans in April.
Jack would require 12 months of rehabilitation and miss the remainder of the season. Former United big man David Andersen was signed as an injury replacement player.

The 211cm center played all but one game for United during the 2020/21 season, averaging 9.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game, his breakout season earning him the NBL’s Best Sixth Man at the end of the year.

The team finished with a 28-8 record in what was a roller-coaster season that saw United make their run to the championship on the road. United had drawn Victorian rivals the South East Melbourne Phoenix as their semi finals opponents but with the Victorian lockdown keeping both team’s out of the state, their semi finals series began in empty arenas in held in Sydney.

The two Melbourne team’s split the first two games playing at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena before returning to Melbourne to play the deciding game three with the winner going on to face the Perth Wildcats in the Grand Final. After trailing 32-15 early in the second quarter, Melbourne’s defence locked in to hold South East Melbourne to just 42 points the rest of the night while scoring 69 themselves. With Landale (27 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks) equalling his season-high for points, shooting 11-13 from the floor and a perfect 3/3 from beyond, United came away with the victory (84-74).

In the same game, Goulding (14 points) notched up his 350th game while Mitch McCarron (11 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists), Scotty Hopson (9 points and 6 boards), and Jo Lual-Acuil (8 points and 3 rebounds) all played important roles in the win. Reuben Te Rangi (22 points) and Mitch Creek (19 points) were key contributors for the Phoenix.

Due to the border restrictions by the Western Australian state government the Perth Wildcats (the lower seed) hosted the first two games of the Grand Final series. While the Wildcat’s remained competitive without their injured superstar Bryce Cotton United would win both games in Perth and return to Melbourne to host the third game (United would have also hosted the fourth and fifth games had they not already won the series by the third game).

A sold-out 5,000-strong crowd at John Cain Arena (the maximum allowed within Covid restrictions) witnessed United defeat Perth (81-76) in what would be Melbourne’s sixth championship and their second under the United branding. Landale (15 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks) continued to rack up stats in every category, making him a obvious choice for the Finals MVP.

2021/22
After winning the 2021 championship, Melbourne lost its leading scorer Jock Landale to a NBA opportunity with San Antonio and starting point guard Mitch McCarron, who became the league’s highest paid local player as a result of signing a three-year deal with Adelaide. United then quickly turned their attention to rebuilding the roster for the NBL22 season, immediately re-signing Lual Acuil, David Barlow and Shea Ili, received a boost from the return of Jack White, who missed the second half of last season to a ACL injury, and added free agents Brad Newley (via Sydney) and Dion Prewster, who had just won the NZNBL MVP award. Next, United secured the biggest free agent of the year, inking NBA champion Matthew Dellavedova to a three-year deal. Lastly, Caleb Agada, who had just played for Nigeria at the Olympics was replaced import Scotty Hopson and talented young German Ariel Hukporti was added to the roster under the Next Stars program.

Outside of a 0-2 start, United were dominant all season, winning their next three games to end December and then losing only one game (5-1) in January while playing all of their games on the road.

In January 2022, Goulding reached 5,000 NBL points, becoming just the second active player to reach the milestone behind Daniel Johnson (Adelaide).

In February, United would win four of their five games and with a record of 12-4 sit atop of the NBL ladder where they would stay for the remainder of the season. Jo Lual Acuil (16.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks) would lead the team in scoring and earn selection to the All-NBL First team while Chris Goulding (15.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) was named to the All-NBL Second Team. The impact of Shea Ili (8.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.4 steals) off the bench was also recognised around the league with him winning the Sixth Man of the Year award. Goulding would appear in 28 games, while averaging 15.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists and helped United finish the regular season in first place (20-8).

Tasmania would finish fourth on the ladder in their first NBL season, setting up a semi final series against United. As expected, United defeated the JackJumpers in game one (74-63) but playing their first game of playoff basketball at home, Tasmania leveled the series (1-1) with a win in game two. Heading into the deciding game three, captain Goulding was deemed unfit to play, which allowed Tasmania to take clamp down on the defensive end. Without Goulding, United couldn’t buy a basket from outside, with Dellavedova (1-7), Agada (0-7), White (0-5) and Baba (0-2) shot a combined 1-21 from beyond the arc. Overall, United went 6-29 (20 per cent) from three, compared to the JackJumpers 10-32 (31 per cent). Still, United were able to keep it close, and it was only in the final moments that Tasmania secured the victory (76-73), ending Melbourne’s playoff run and making history by reaching a Grand Final in their debut season..

Lual Acuil recorded his best game in a loss to Tasmania (85-94) where he recorded a 20-20 game, finishing with 26 points, 21 rebounds and 2 blocks.

2023/24
After a forgettable season where United attempted to regroup after losing starters Jo Lual-Acuil to China and Jack White and Matthew Dellavedova to the NBA, United welcomed back Lual-Acuil and Dellavedova for NBL24 and added NBA prospect Luke Travers to build out a roster very similar to the team which narrowly missed out on a grand final berth in 2022.

Looking to run things back, import Ian Clark (via Adelaide) was signed as the team’s only import, filling the team’s bench scoring role that Scotty Hopson had previously occupied while young, up and coming talent Tanner Krebs (via Brisbane), Kyle Bowen and Flynn Cameron were also added to the roster.

An early season wrist injury to Lual-Acuil saw veteran Rob Loe (5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) signed as an injury replacement for 8 games and with Ariel Hukporti (7.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks) stepping into the starting line-up during that time, United sat on the top of the ladder (7-1) when Lual-Acuil returned.

In his sixteenth NBL season, Chris Goulding (16.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.5 assists) delivered one of the best seasons of his career on the back of playing with the Boomers at the FIBA World Cup in 2023 and fighting for a spot on the 2024 Olympic team.

In addition to Goulding leading the way in scoring, United were unguardable for most of the season with any of the team’s starters able to take over games. Lual Acuil (14.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks), Dellavedova (12.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 6.3 assists) and Clark (13.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) kept the scoreboard ticking over while swiss army knife Travers (11.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.9 assists 1.1 steals and 1.3 blocks) filled the stat sheet in almost every other category.

Melbourne (20-8) finished the season a clear three wins in front of the competition and their success drew a slew of sell-out crowds almost every week. United delivered their biggest win at home against Brisbane in December, where they won by 35 points and thanks to some lights out shooting from Goulding (7/9 from beyond the arc) and forcing the Bullets to shot a woeful percentage at the other end (3/26 from the perimeter). In the same game, Lual-Acuil shot 10-14 from the field and finished with 33 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 steals to deliver his best game of the season.

Melbourne faced Illawarra in the semifinals, where both teams lit it up, the scoreboard displaying 100 points in consecutive playoff matches. Tied at a game apiece, United survived a huge scare in Game 3 to advance to the Grand Final series.

United delivered a blowout win in game one (104–81) behind Goulding (22 points on 7-12 shooting) and Lual-Acuil (20 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks). The JackJumpers evened the series at home (77-82) thanks to big games from Jack McVeigh (16 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists) and Milton Doyle (13 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists). Shea Ili (20 points on 8-12 shooting) led United in the loss.

Dellavedova (21 points and 8 assists) delivered one of his best games of the season in a game looked like easy victors until a miracle shot from McVeigh (18 points and 12 rebounds) resulted in Melbourne losing back-to-back games for the first time this season.

In game four, United rode the hot hand of Ian Clark (18 points and 4 rebounds) to even the series at two wins a piece (88-86).

Tasmania’s Jordon Crawford had struggled through the majority of the playoffs, but was the epitome of the JackJumpers never-say-die attitude, scoring 19 points in the first quarter and finishing the game with 32 points as the JackJumpers came from behind to win at John Cain Arena (83-81). It was the equal-third highest tally by any player in a title-series game during the 40-minute game era, which dates back to 2009.

Crawford had plenty of support from McVeigh (14 points and 8 rebounds), Doyle (11 points and 10 rebounds) and Will Magnay (11 points and 12 rebounds), combining to win Tasmania’s first NBL championship.

Each of Melbourne’s five starters reached double figures, led by Jo Lual-Acuil Jr (14 points), Matthew Dellavedova, Chris Goulding and Luke Travers (13 each).

Lual-Acuil Jr has been one of the greatest developmental stories in recent league history, coming into the club in 2020 as a backup, before blossoming behind Jock Landale into the league’s best sixth man in a Championship-winning 2021 campaign, and finally establishing himself as one of the league’s top centres.

During his three seasons with Melbourne, JLA has etched his name into the club’s history books. The seven-footer ranks first all-time for United in total blocks, third in total rebounds, and equal fourth in total points.Jo Lual Acuil played four seasons the Melbourne United. He averaged 12.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1 assists in 85 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (815 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.