Star Collegiate Guard Set for Home State Reunion?

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Local talent completing their college careers and returning to the NBL to commence their professional careers has long been a feather in the cap of the domestic competition.

Photo: Zac Zeman/Cal Baptist

Local talent completing their college careers and returning to the NBL to commence their professional careers has long been a feather in the cap of the domestic competition.

Sam Waardenburg finished his time at the University of Miami ahead of NBL23 and entered the professional ranks with the Cairns Taipans to great success last season, while the likes of Kody Stattmann also returned home after learning the game abroad.

One of the most exciting collegiate talents on the radar of NBL teams ahead of the upcoming free agency is former California Baptist guard Tre Armstrong, with the 6’6” Australian set to return home following a four-year college career.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tre Armstong hits from Santa Fe! Aggies call a timeout down 8-0 early!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LanceUp?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LanceUp</a>?? <a href="https://t.co/bKRS9nCNc1">pic.twitter.com/bKRS9nCNc1</a></p>— California Baptist Men's Basketball (@CBUmbb) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBUmbb/status/1611910099798495232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Armstrong played over 120 games for the Lancers in his time at college, and there is one NBL club that looks to have an advantage over the rest in the race for his signature – the Tasmania JackJumpers.

Armstrong hails from Burnie, Tasmania, and is primed to play for the North West Thunder in NBL1 South.

“I’m planning on going up there [to Ulverstone] next week for their [NW Thunder] first game and I’ll have a chance to sit down with the [Armstrong] family, and we are in constant communication with them,” JackJumpers head coach Scott Roth said.

““The ability to go to the Unites States and spend a year or two, or in [Tre’s] case four years and then come back, it’s a huge growth period for a kid like that and I’m always looking for those type of players that are stretching themselves and doing those type of things and again we’ll have some conversation with him and see what happens.”

There is currently a significant lack of Tasmanian born talent in the NBL, with out of contract Brisbane guard Tanner Krebs an option for the Apple Isle side to bring in this odd-season.

The JackJumpers have been rumoured to be interested in also bringing Krebs into the fold, but Roth says the fact the likes of Armstrong and Krebs are Tasmanian won’t influence the recruitment process.

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“We will have Tasmanians on this roster eventually, it’s just a matter of time,” he said.

“But again the reality is there’s only one (sic) Tasmanian playing in all of the NBL, it’s not like there is 20 or 30 of them running around.

“So you have to earn your right to be on a roster in the NBL and we are always going to try and choose a really good player with high character and the caveat to all of that is if he’s Tasmanian it’s a home run for us.

“So we’ll continue to make sure we are available and developing these players and following them.”

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All team, player and mutual contract options have been confirmed ahead of NBL24, with free agency opening on March 30.

Armstrong and the Thunder host Sam McDaniel, Jarred Bairstow and the Hobart Chargers on Saturday night at 7:30pm AEDT - you can catch it live on NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 app.