Former Hawk Joins United

Former Illawarra Hawk Xavier Rathan-Mayes has joined Melbourne United for the 2022/23 season.

A potent scorer with the ability to create for his teammates, Rathan-Mayes finished second in the league’s Best Sixth Man voting behind new teammate Shea Ili last season.

Rathan-Mayes put together one of his best performances of last season against United, when he recorded 25 points, eight assists, six rebounds and four steals in an April victory.

“I’m just super excited to be a part of an organisation like Melbourne United,” Rathan-Mayes told the club’s website.

“I’m excited to get down there and join this group. I think we’ve got the chance to be really special. I’m going to have the ability to play with such great players and fit right in with the championship culture that Dean (Vickerman) and his staff have created.

“I love the city of Melbourne, I love John Cain Arena, it very much feels like an NBA arena, it was always super exciting to come play in front of the Melbourne United fans. Their rowdiness, their energy and the atmosphere they created was pretty awesome.”

Vickerman spent significant time with former Hawks coach Brian Goorjian discussing the guard’s ability.

“We’re thrilled to be bringing in Xavier (Rathan-Mayes),” Vickerman said.

“We’ve seen him around Hoop City a lot this offseason and he really impressed us. Goorj couldn’t have spoken about him more highly, which means a lot.

“He showed what he can do in this league last season, and we’re confident he can do even more within our system.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We are very excited to announce the signing of Canadian guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes for NBL23!<br><br>A potent scorer with the ability to create for his teammates, Rathan-Mayes finished 2nd in NBL22&#39;s Best Sixth Man voting behind Shea Ili.<br><br>Full story: <a href="https://t.co/1ax5EVH41o">https://t.co/1ax5EVH41o</a> <a href="https://t.co/GbdXKeEw9B">pic.twitter.com/GbdXKeEw9B</a></p>&mdash; Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1554723753908912129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Outside of the NBL, the 193cm guard has spent time playing in the NBA, G-League, and top European competitions.

Rathan-Mayes will take up United’s second import slot, and joins Rayjon Tucker, Isaac Humphries, Makuach Maluach and Joshua Duach as new players on Melbourne’s NBL23 roster.