The future stars taking East by storm

Cover Image: Greg Francis

The Centre of Excellence side in NBL1 East is an anomaly. In an open-age men’s competition they’re a team of boys. In a league filled with wily, grizzled veterans and current and former pros, they’re a team of players who are only just starting their basketball journeys.

Heading into Round 6.  CoE has a split 3-3 record. They’ve taken wins over Bankstown, Sydney and Norths, while they’ve fallen to Albury-Wodonga, Central Coast and Hills.

Luke Fennell is something of a veteran in this team of young bloods, having made his debut for the Centre of Excellence during last season’s Semi-Final run, and the 17-year-old has just inked his first professional deal with the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

The emerging guard starred in his side’s pair of Round 5 victories. First, he fired up to add a team-high 22 points in a win over the Obiri Kyei-led Comets, before he bounced back the next night to contribute a further 14 points in a 13-point win over the Bears.

He’s averaged 14 points per game across his season so far, and he’s credited his taste of the competition last season in fast-tracking his improvement in the new campaign.

“Last season when I played in NBL1 East, my first couple of games were definitely a punch in the mouth,” Fennell told NBL Media.

"A lot of turnovers, getting pushed around, all of that. Adjusting was something that was really big in my mind and that had to be done quickly, just learning to be able to play strong through my lower body and be able to take hits, sometimes not even to push back, but just to be able to take it is what was needed through last season.

“Coming into this year I knew it was going to be like, I knew teams were coming to beat us up – especially the teams we beat last year, they definitely came out firing.

“Learning how to adapt to how they’re going to play against us and just being physical back and not taking any hits is something I’ve tried to implement into my game.”

Players as young as 16 have been turning out for the Centre of Excellence this season, and NBL1 East represents their first taste of senior basketball.

Reported NBL Next Star prospect Ajak Nyuon has appeared twice this season, while Rocco Zikarsky and Alex Toohey were mainstays of the side in 2023.

Given the youthful nature of his team, Fennell believes other teams want to come out and show the CoE side who's boss, and that’s just the way they like it.

“Definitely, 100 per cent, you can see it, you can hear it when they’re talking on the court they want to beat us up,” he said.

“And we love it. We’re not shying away from it at all, that’s exactly what we want from them, so I hope they keep coming out and doing the same thing.”

For a group of young players who might have their eyes firmly fixed forward on their burgeoning futures, Fennell believes he and his teammates are all moving towards the same goal – the NBL1 East title.

From the South East and now playing for the Phoenix, this is only the start for our new DP Luke Fennell. ?? ??

? NBL25 Memberships: https://t.co/783pVKLKP3 pic.twitter.com/WXWYPZlHR3

— South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) May 6, 2024

Fennell and fellow CoE player Kye Savage have already taken their first steps towards their giant futures by signing deals with NBL sides South East Melbourne and Brisbane respectively.

Savage has also joined Josh Dent in making a senior Boomers debut in a recent batch of FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers under Brian Goorjian, while Jame O’Donnell won the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup alongside current NBL players Todd Blanchfield and William Hickey and former Cairns Taipan Josh Davey just a few months ago.

Despite all of this individual success though, Fennell is adamant this group of players is driven to experience NBL1 success together.

“It (winning NBL1 East) is, at this point in time, my biggest priority, for sure,” he said.

“We’re all together every day. We live together, eat together, train together every single day.

“Winning not just for me, but for all my teammates and coaches is something that’s really big, and if that could be done then that would be amazing.”

Fennell’s Centre of Excellence is set to take on a Round 6 doubleheader this weekend.

First, they will play the 2-5 Newcastle Falcons at 5pm AEST on Saturday, May 11. Then, they take on the second-placed Inner West Bulls at 5pm AEST on Sunday, May 12 streaming live via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App.