With news that centre Julian Khazzouh will not be returning to the Kings lineup this season after tearing his quadriceps tendon last season the team has been hitting the phones in order to find a replacement.
Fox Sports have reported that the Sydney Kings are expected to sign former Melbourne United player and SEABL star, Garrett Jackson.
Jackson has been training with the Kings recently and it is expected his signing will be announced by the Kings media team within the next 24 hours.
Jackson, 25, most recently has been playing for the NW Tasmania Thunder in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) where he was named in the All-SEABL Team with averages of 22.9 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in 2016.
Fans might remember Jackson from a brief stint with the Melbourne United where he played 6 games as a short-term injury replacement for Hakim Warrick. Jackson showed he was capable of solid defence, rebounding and effective shooting.
Jackson’s best game for United happened coincidently against the Sydney Kings when he delivered 14 points and 5 rebounds in only 18 minutes off the bench. Jackson went on to play average 5.2 points and 2.2 rebounds per game that season.
Jackson is a graduate of the St Mary’s Gaels, who while well known helping Australian’s like Matthew Dellavedova, Patty Mills and Daniel Kickert breaking the US college basketball system is seems the tide is turning with a number of the program’s American players like Jackson, Stephen Holt, Diamon Simpson and Omar Samhan all finding their way out to Australia to play in recent years.
Jackson was St Mary’s starting forward in his senior year and averaged 8.5 points and 4.4 rebounds in 21.9 minutes per game. Prior to committing to St Mary’s he was named the Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year in 2010.
The Kings are currently 10-9 and will aim to bring in Jackson for their matchup against cross-town rivals Illawarra on Friday.
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.
