BIO: Tom Digbeu was born in Barcelona (Spain).

Digbeu also played in the 2017 Jordan Brand Classic that featured the likes of current NBA players Killian Hayes, Theo Maledon and Isaiah Stewart. Having risen through the ranks of FC Barcelona’s basketball academy. He attended the 2018 NBA Basketball Without Borders (Europe) camp and impressed alongside the likes of current NBA players Deni Avdija and Aleksej Pokusevski.

FAMILY: He is the son of former NBA draftee Alain Digbeu and he last played for BC Prienai in the highly regarded Lithuanian basketball league.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Tom Digbeu made his NBL debut with the Brisbane Bullets at 20 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

After finishing sixth with an 18-18 record and missing the playoffs, Brisbane entered the season with Andrej Lemanis leaving after five years as head coach. The Bullets considered promoting assistant coach and former player CJ Bruton before appointing former Sydney Kings assistant James Duncan.

Vic Law (to Perth), Matt Hodgson (to Perth), Harry Froling (to Illawarra), Callum Dalton (to Melbourne) and BJ Johnson (to Orlando) departed, while Lamar Patterson returned and Tyrell Harrison and Jason Cadee signed two-year deals. Brisbane added Robert Franks (via Lakeland Magic), Isaiah Moss (via Otago), Jack Salt (via Canterbury), Deng Deng (via Illawarra), Chuanxing Liu (via China) and development player Taane Samuel.

Tom Digbeu (via BC Prienai) joined Brisbane through the NBL’s Next Stars program, becoming the first Next Star signed by the Bullets. “The Bullets will give me a real chance to develop as a player and as a young man,” Digbeu said.

Brisbane opened the season against league newcomer Tasmania at MyState Bank Arena on December 3, where the French guard (0 points and 2 rebounds) played seven minutes off the bench, while Sobey (24 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal) made a late three-pointer to force overtime, but Adams (20 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block) led the JackJumpers to an 83-74 victory in their first NBL game.

Digbeu (4.6 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists across 19 games) came off the bench in every appearance and averaged 12.3 minutes, shooting 46 per cent from the field and 38 per cent from three. He was named on Brisbane’s game sheet but did not enter seven games, with no injury reported for those absences, as Duncan indicated the Next Star needed to continue working at practice to earn additional playing time.

Digbeu (11 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block) produced his first double-figure scoring game against Melbourne at John Cain Arena on March 5, attacking the basket and completing a highlight dunk over Hukporti (14 points and 4 rebounds), but Lual-Acuil Jr (20 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks) and Agada (15 points and 3 steals) helped United win 95-83 and handed Brisbane its eighth loss from 10 games.

Robert Franks and NBL Next Star Tom Digbeu get and-ones with some tough finishes and they let the John Cain Arena crowd know about it!

Watch #NBL22 live on @ESPNAusNZ + @kayosports pic.twitter.com/pwGvA8w57F

— The NBL (@NBL) March 5, 2022

Digbeu’s best all-round game came against Illawarra on March 31, where he finished with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. Jessup (29 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks), Cleveland (14 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block) and Rathan-Mayes (14 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block) led the Hawks to an 87-70 victory.

Three days later, Digbeu (13 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal) made two late free throws to give Brisbane a 92-91 lead against Adelaide at Nissan Arena. Johnson (28 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal) led the 36ers, but Adelaide failed to score on its final possession and the Bullets held on for the one-point victory.

Digbeu (14 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists, and 1 steal) continued his increased late-season role against Illawarra on April 9, but Reath (28 points and 11 rebounds), Cleveland (18 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists) and Harvey (18 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals) led the Hawks to a 108-77 victory.

Brisbane reached the halfway point with a 5-9 record before injuries further disrupted Duncan’s rotation. Franks (18.2 points and 8.9 rebounds across 27 games) finished fifth in the NBL in scoring, while Patterson (16.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 4.1 assists across 27 games), Sobey (16.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists across 12 games) and Cadee (10.4 points and 5 assists across 28 games) were the team’s other double-figure scorers. Sobey missed 16 games with a knee injury, while Harrison (6.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks across 17 games) missed 11 games with an ongoing elbow injury. Brisbane finished as the league’s worst defensive team, conceding 89.3 points per game, and led the NBL with 14.6 turnovers per game.

Digbeu’s best scoring game and final appearance came against Adelaide at Nissan Arena on April 11, where he finished with 15 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block as Brisbane outscored the 36ers 25-15 during the third quarter and won 93-85, while Sotto (21 points and 3 rebounds) was Adelaide’s leading scorer.

Franks received the Leroy Loggins MVP Award and Members’ MVP, Salt (2.9 points across 21 games) was named Players’ Player, Deng (6.8 points and 4.5 rebounds across 28 games) received Defensive Player of the Year and Liu (2.9 points across 23 games) won Young Player of the Year.

Digbeu was ruled out of Brisbane’s April 16 game against Melbourne with the flu, joining three other Bullets sidelined through illness. Patterson (23 points and 10 rebounds), Cadee (20 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists) and Drmic (19 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists) led the depleted Bullets, but United won 88-79.

Digbeu remained unavailable following the illness when Brisbane travelled to Cairns with only seven players for its season finale on April 23. Franks (30 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal) and Krebs (20 points and 3 rebounds) led the Bullets, while McCall (42 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists, 4 steals, and 1 block) produced the first 40-point, 10-assist game of the NBL’s 40-minute era as Cairns won 112-98 and Brisbane finished eighth with a 10-18 record.

Tom Digbeu played one season in the NBL. He averaged 4.6 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 19 NBL games.

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