BIO: Jody Austin was born in Sydney (NSW) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Taree basketball program.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Jody Austin made his NBL debut with the Sydney Kings at 20 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

1994
Sydney entered 1994 without Dwayne McClain, Ken McClary, Wayne Womack, James Carr, John Blake and Mike Kenny, while Tony De Ambrosis (to Gold Coast) left in search of greater playing opportunities. After three seasons with McClain and McClary, coach Bob Turner chose not to re-sign the import duo and looked for younger talent, while Damian Keogh, Greg Hubbard, Dean Uthoff, Mark Dalton, Tim Morrissey and Jody Austin returned from the previous season.

Turner signed Mario Donaldson (via Omaha) after spotting him during Omaha’s 1993 CBA championship season and paired him with Leon Trimmingham (via Briar Cliff), a relatively unknown forward who had been recommended by former Hobart coach Dr David Atkins. Neil Turner (via Hobart) and Brad Williams (via Australian Institute of Sport) were also added to the roster.

Sydney opened the season at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on April 9, where Austin (1 assist) saw five minutes off the bench as Trimmingham (32 points, 14 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks) and Donaldson (28 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 blocks) powered the Kings to a 110-100 win over South East Melbourne, while Bruce Bolden (25 points and 11 rebounds) led the Magic. The victory began a 3-0 start for Sydney.

After appearing in only two games the previous season, Austin (1 point across 20 games) was used more regularly in a limited reserve role during his fifth season with Sydney, appearing in 20 of the Kings’ 29 games. No injury was reported during the season.

Austin’s season-high came at Adelaide Arena on May 1, where Austin (6 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal) made both of his three-point attempts in 13 minutes as Adelaide defeated Sydney 101-90, with Donaldson (29 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, and 1 block) and Trimmingham (19 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 blocks) leading the Kings. The six points matched the highest-scoring game of Austin’s NBL career.

Sydney reached the halfway mark at 8-3 and looked like a championship contender, but the lack of experience among the young roster began to show and the Kings went 8-7 over their remaining 15 regular-season games. Morrissey later remembered how Sydney’s players helped build the club’s following, saying, “The best way was through the players – getting out to schools, meeting kids, doing clinics.”

Austin (2 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals) played 10 minutes in Sydney’s final regular-season game against Geelong on September 24, with Trimmingham (29 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks) and Hubbard (22 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 steals) leading the Kings to a 102-97 win, while Everette Stephens (22 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals) led the Supercats. The victory left Sydney seventh with a 16-10 record and returned the Kings to the playoffs.

Trimmingham (27.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 2.2 blocks) led Sydney in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots, won the Kings’ club MVP award and earned All-NBL First Team honours. Donaldson (22.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.8 steals) and Hubbard (18.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 2.2 steals) provided the additional scoring, while Keogh (11.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 1.9 steals), Uthoff (8.3 points and 9.3 rebounds) and Dalton (8.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.4 steals) completed Sydney’s main rotation.

Sydney entered the quarterfinals against second-placed North Melbourne as decided underdogs after the Giants had defeated the Kings in both regular-season meetings. Game one was played at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on September 26, where Austin (2 points and 1 rebound) contributed as Sydney raced to an 11-0 lead inside the opening 71 seconds against a North Melbourne side playing its third road game in four days. The Kings led 43-25 after the first quarter and 77-51 at halftime before winning 131-109 in front of 9,092 fans, making 15-of-18 three-pointers for 83.3 percent. Hubbard (32 points and 7 steals) made 8-of-9 from long range, Donaldson (27 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists) added 27 and Keogh (18 points, 8 rebounds, and 10 assists) fell two rebounds short of a triple-double, while Paul Maley (26 points and 6 rebounds) led North Melbourne.

Game two moved to the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre, where Austin (0 points and 1 steal) played his final NBL game as Trimmingham (22 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks) and Donaldson (18 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and 3 blocks) led Sydney, while Pat Reidy (28 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals), Maley (17 points and 9 rebounds) and Darryl McDonald (14 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists, and 2 steals) led North Melbourne to a 112-91 win and forced a deciding third game.

Game three remained in Melbourne on October 2, where Austin was not used as Trimmingham (31 points and 10 rebounds) and Keogh (21 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists) led Sydney, while Maley (33 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals), Reidy (24 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals) and McDonald (17 points, 13 rebounds, and 7 assists) led North Melbourne to a 104-95 win, eliminating Sydney with a 17-12 overall record before the Giants went on to win the NBL championship.

Jody Austin played five seasons with the Sydney Kings.