Japan’s Emergence as a Major Destination for Australian Basketball Talent
January 11, 2026
Venky Jois
- Nationality: AUS
- Date of Birth: 7/07/93
- Place of Birth: Upper Ferntree Gully (VIC)
- Position: FRD
- Height (CM): 203
- Weight (KG): 104
- Junior Assoc: VIC - Dandenong
- College: Eastern Washington (2012–2016)
- NBL DEBUT: 28/01/19
- AGE AT DEBUT: 25
- LAST NBL GAME: 28/05/21
- AGE AT LAST GAME: 27
- NBL History: Melbourne 2019 | Cairns 2021
- Championships: 0
- None
Venky Jois made his NBL debut with the Melbourne United at 25 years of age. He scored two points in his first game.
Venkatesha “Venky” Jois was born in Upper Ferntree Gully (VIC) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Dandenong basketball program as well as Box Hill High School, where he graduated from in 2011.
Venky Jois played two seasons in the NBL, playing for both the Melbourne United and the Cairns Taipans. He averaged 3.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 0.1 assists in 21 NBL games.
NBL TOTAL STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | 28 | Cairns | 8-28 (9) | 10 | 159.8 | 64 | 51 | 0 | 21 | 30 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 18 | 30 | 64 | 47% | 0 | 1 | 0% | 4 | 26 | 15% | 42% | 47% | 12 |
| 2018-19 | 25 | Melbourne | 18-10 (2) | 11 | 29.0 | 19 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 50% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 5 | 10 | 50% | 51% | 50% | 4 | Totals | 21 | 189 | 83 | 60 | 4 | 25 | 35 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 24 | 37 | 78 | 47.4% | 0 | 1 | 0.0% | 9 | 36 | 25.0% | 44% | 47% | 12 |
NBL PER GAME STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | 28 | Cairns | 8-28 (9) | 10 | 16.0 | 6.4 | 5.1 | 0.0 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 3.0 | 6.4 | 47% | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0% | 0.4 | 2.6 | 15% | 42% | 47% | 12 |
| 2018-19 | 25 | Melbourne | 18-10 (2) | 11 | 2.6 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 50% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 0.5 | 0.9 | 50% | 51% | 50% | 4 | Total | 21 | 9.0 | 4.0 | 2.9 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 1.8 | 3.7 | 47.4% | 0.0 | 0.0% | 0.0 | 25.0% | 44% | 47% | 12 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 12 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
|---|
STATE LEAGUE EXPERIENCE
- Dandenong (2011–2012, 2021), North-West Tasmania (2023)
Jois joined Dandenong for the 2011 SEABL season, winning SEABL Youth Player of the Year honours after averaging 9.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists while shooting 48.7 percent from the field.
Jois continued with Dandenong in the 2012 SEABL season before leaving for Eastern Washington, with his second SEABL year following his under-20 national championship run where he had 12 points and 14 rebounds in the final.
Jois returned to Dandenong for the 2021 NBL1 South season after his Cairns stint, recording 21 points, 15 rebounds, two assists and four steals in an 81–70 win over Eltham, then adding 19 points and 12 rebounds in a later game against North-West Tasmania.
Jois joined North-West Tasmania for the 2023 NBL1 South season in March 2023, opening his stint with a 99–95 road win over Bendigo where he had 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Jois added 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists on 10-of-15 shooting for North-West Tasmania in a 2023 win over Dandenong, then followed with 18 points, nine rebounds, four steals and two assists in an overtime win over Eltham.
Jois also produced 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals for North-West Tasmania in an 83–78 win over Ringwood during the 2023 NBL1 South season.
NBA EXPERIENCE
In October 2019, Jois joined the Memphis Hustle of the NBA G League. He missed two months with an undisclosed injury. Jois averaged 5.9 points and 3.9 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per game in 18 games.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
- Estonia - Tartu Ülikooli (2016–2017) | Croatia - Vrijednosnice Osijek (2017) | Japan - Shiga (2018) | Germany - Rasta Vechta (2018) | New Zealand - Super City (2019) | Serbia - Pirot (2021) | Slovenia - Helios (2021–2022) | Phillipines - NorthPort Batang Pier (2023–2024) | China - Sichuan (2024)
Venky Jois joined Tartu Ülikooli for the 2016–17 Estonian season, playing his first season in Estonia after signing his first professional contract with the club in August 2016.
Jois moved to Croatia in 2017 to play for Vrijednosnice Osijek before heading to Japan in 2018 to suit up for the Shiga Lakestars.
Later in 2018, Jois began the 2018–19 season in Germany with Rasta Vechta, but he departed the club in November 2018.
On 3 April 2019, Jois signed with the Super City Rangers for the 2019 New Zealand NBL season and averaged 20.4 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists across 13 games.
On 2 June 2019, Jois suffered a severe hand injury in a Rangers game against the Southern Huskies, with the Huskies led by Tim Quarterman while the Rangers received major scoring from Venky Jois and Nnanna Egwu in that matchup.
In February 2021, Jois joined Pirot in the Basketball League of Serbia and, across seven games, averaged 10.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.
In September 2021, Jois signed with the Helios Suns in Slovenia and averaged 7.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists during the 2021–22 season while shooting 60.1% from the field.
On 19 October 2023, Jois signed with NorthPort Batang Pier as the team’s import for the 2023–24 PBA Commissioner’s Cup, and he produced a 43-point, 10-rebound game in a win over Terrafirma in November 2023 before adding 39 points, 21 rebounds, and four blocks against Converge on 6 December 2023 as NorthPort improved to 4–2 in the tournament.
In March 2024, Jois joined the Sichuan Blue Whales in China’s CBA during the 2023–24 season.
COLLEGE
Venky Jois played four seasons at Eastern Washington from 2012–13 to 2015–16, developing from an instant-impact freshman into one of the most decorated bigs in Big Sky history, while finishing his career with 120 starts across 122 games and leaving as the school’s all-time leader in blocked shots with 240.
As a freshman in 2012–13, the Boronia, Australia product won Big Sky Freshman of the Year after averaging 12.3 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game, ranking second in the league and 46th nationally in rebounding while also leading the conference in blocks at 2.4 per game.
Jois backed it up in 2013–14 with another step forward as an All-Big Sky honourable mention, producing 13.4 points, a team-best 8.0 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game, with nine double-doubles on the season and a career-high 29 points and 13 rebounds at Southern Utah.
By 2014–15 he had become the heartbeat of Eastern’s frontcourt, earning first-team All-Big Sky and a spot on the Big Sky All-Tournament Team while averaging 16.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 2.23 blocks per game, and the late-season run included a double-double against Idaho in the Big Sky tourney quarterfinal, 19 points in the semi, and two early baskets that sparked the closing surge in the title-game win over Montana to punch EWU’s ticket to the NCAA tournament.
In the 2015 NCAA tournament matchup with Georgetown, Jois closed his junior year with 19 points and eight rebounds on 8-of-12 shooting and added two blocks, a finish that also locked in a school record 69 blocks for the season after he had already produced back-to-back 38-point games earlier in the year against Eastern Oregon and at Seattle.
He entered his senior season (2015–16) with major league-wide expectations, including being picked as a preseason Big Sky MVP choice by a media panel, and he finished his Eastern Washington career with 26 double-doubles, 1,803 points, 1,015 rebounds, and those 240 blocks, making him one of the only players in program history to sit near the top of multiple major categories at once.
Across his four-year run he also stacked a long list of conference recognition, including Big Sky Freshman of the Year (2012–13), multiple All-Big Sky selections that culminated with first-team honours as an upperclassman, Big Sky All-Tournament Team recognition during EWU’s 2015 championship run, and national-district acknowledgement via NABC All-District selection noted in Eastern’s record summary materials.
AWARDS
- 2× First-team All-Big Sky (2015, 2016)
-
Big Sky Freshman of the Year (2013)
-
SEABL Youth Player of the Year (2011)
Related
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