Tamuri Wigness Explained

Tamuri Wigness
Position:Point guard
Birth Date:26 March 2002
Birth Place:Torres Strait Islands, Queensland, Australia
Height Cm:180
Weight Kg:84
Highschool:Cairns State (Cairns, Queensland)
Career Start:2020
Years1:2017–2020
Team1:BA Centre of Excellence
Years2:2020
Team2:Southern Districts Spartans
Years3:2020–2022
Team3:Brisbane Bullets
Years4:2021
Team4:Brisbane Capitals
Years5:2022
Team5:North Gold Coast Seahawks

Tamuri Slim Wigness Jr. (born 26 March 2002) is an Australian professional basketball player who last played for the North Gold Coast Seahawks of the NBL1 North.

Early life

Wigness was born in the Torres Strait Islands[1] region of Queensland, Australia, to a Torres Strait Islander mother and Gambian father.[2] He moved with his family to Cairns at an early age to begin his primary schooling education.[3] His first sporting interest began to develop while in Cairns when he played junior rugby league up until the age of 10 when his mother advised him to play basketball instead because it involved less contact.[4] Within a year of picking up the sport, Wigness was placed in Cairns Basketball's Tiny Taipans development program and was given the opportunity to train with professional Cairns Taipans players at the age of 11.[5]

Wigness attended Cairns State High School throughout his teenage years[6] and while in high school he continued to play basketball as well as picking up junior Australian rules football with the Manunda Hawks in the local AFL Cairns competition[7] where he was selected to play for multiple junior representative teams.[8] He and fellow Cairns junior basketball standout Alex Davies were both scouted by the professional Gold Coast Suns AFL team throughout their teenage years[9] and were offered places in the Suns' developmental academy; Davies accepted the offer to pursue football while Wigness elected to focus on basketball.[10] The pair remain close friends and often train together in both sports when based in the same area.[10]

At 14 years of age, Wigness was chosen to represent his home state of Queensland at the 2016 under-16 national championships and starred throughout the tournament scoring an average of 25.56 points per game, with a 45-point highlight coming against South Australia.[11] He accepted an NBA Global Academy scholarship in 2017[12] and was given access to first class training facilities at the Australian Institute of Sport complex in Canberra. Later that year he was once again chosen to represent Queensland at the under-16 national championships[13] and his dominant performances for Queensland[14] led to selection for the Australian team at the 2017 FIBA Under-16 Asian Championship.[15] He played a pivotal role in winning the gold medal for Australia and was named as the starting point guard in the All-Tournament Team.[16] In 2018 he travelled to Treviso, Italy to take part in the NBA's Global Camp where he impressed scouts by forming an athletic backcourt combination with fellow Australian guard Josh Green.[17]

Wigness was also a part of the gold medal-winning Australian teams at the 2018 FIBA Under-18 Asian Championship and the 2019 FIBA Oceania Under-18 Championship as well as competing for his home nation at the 2018 FIBA Under-17 Basketball World Cup and the 2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup.

Between 2017 and 2020, Wigness attended and played for the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence in the SEABL, NBL1 and Waratah League.[18] In the 2019 NBL1 season, he averaged 11.7 points, four assists and 3.4 rebounds per game. In his season finale, he posted 22 points and 12 assists.[19] Wigness was put on the radar of several college and NBA scouts when he travelled to Charlotte, North Carolina to compete in the 2019 Basketball Without Borders Global Camp and walked away with All-Tournament honours.[20]

In 2020, Wigness played for the Southern Districts Spartans in the Queensland State League (QSL).

Professional career

On 20 July 2020, Wigness announced his decision to forego the American college system and instead signed a two-year contract with the Brisbane Bullets of the National Basketball League (NBL) as a part of their Next Stars program.[21] He played 44 games for the Bullets over two seasons.[22]

During the 2021 off-season, Wigness had a short stint with the Brisbane Capitals in the NBL1 North. In 2022, he played for the North Gold Coast Seahawks in the NBL1 North.[23]

National team career

Wigness has represented Australia in several junior international tournaments, including at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup and the 2018 FIBA Under-17 Basketball World Cup.[24] At the 2019 Under 17 FIBA Oceania Championship, he made the All-Star Five.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Why Australia's NBA invasion won't stop with a record 10 representatives . Daily Telegraph . 24 July 2020 . 21 July 2018.
  2. Web site: Potter . Finn . Bullets rookie Wigness looking to emulate role models Jawai, Mills . SBS . 7 June 2024 . 2 January 2021.
  3. Web site: Tamuri hoping to make people "Wigness" of next great from Torres Strait . . 20 July 2020 . 1 April 2018.
  4. Web site: Basketball Players From Cairns and South West Metro Chosen For The Australian Crocs . Basketball Queensland . 24 July 2020 . 21 June 2018.
  5. Web site: Tamuri's got game . ABC Far North Queensland . 24 July 2020 . 29 May 2013.
  6. Web site: FNQ Basketball Prodigy on Road to Top . . 20 July 2020 . 6 January 2020.
  7. Web site: AFL Cairns Juniors 2015 Grand Final Previews . Cairns AFL . 24 July 2020 . 20 August 2015.
  8. Web site: Cairns Lions U14's Dominate NQ Championships . Cairns AFL . 24 July 2020 . 10 June 2015.
  9. Web site: Dropping the ball on Wigness will haunt Taipans . Daily Telegraph . 24 July 2020 . 22 July 2020.
  10. Web site: Sun on the horizon for Manunda Hawks talent . Cairns Post . 24 July 2020 . 22 May 2020.
  11. Web site: Under 16 National Championships Wrap-Up . Basketball Queensland . 24 July 2020 . 25 August 2016.
  12. Web site: Indigenous NBL stars ready to play for Australian national team . Aussie Hoopla . 24 July 2020 . 20 August 2018.
  13. Web site: First NBA Academy games completed at BA Centre of Excellence . Basketball Australia . 24 July 2020 . 3 July 2017.
  14. Web site: Wrap Up for 2017 Australian Junior Championships . Basketball Queensland . 24 July 2020 . 24 July 2017.
  15. Web site: Australian Crocs and Sapphires named for 2017 FIBA U16 Asia Championships . Basketball Australia . 24 July 2020 . 14 September 2017.
  16. Web site: Sotto, Sun and Wigness lead the FIBA U16 Asian Championship Mythical Teams . FIBA Asia . 24 July 2020 . 10 April 2018.
  17. Web site: Scouting the most interesting draft prospects at the NBA Global Camp . ESPN . 24 July 2020 . 7 June 2018.
  18. Web site: Tamuri Wigness. australiabasket.com. 5 October 2022. subscription.
  19. News: Maggi . Alessandro . Brisbane Bullets announce Tamuri Wigness . Sportando . 20 July 2020 . 20 July 2020.
  20. Web site: Australia's Tamuri Wigness, the 'flashy bulldog', named to Basketball Without Borders Global Camp All-Tournament team . Fox Sports Australia . 24 July 2020 . 18 February 2019.
  21. Web site: Bullets Sign Tamuri Wigness . . 20 July 2020 . 20 July 2020.
  22. Web site: Tamuri Wigness. realgm.com. 5 October 2022.
  23. Web site: Tamuri Wigness. nbl1.com.au. 5 October 2022.
  24. Web site: Patty Mills heaps praise on young Indigenous-Australian star Tamuri Wigness Jr. ahead of FIBA U17 World Cup . Fox Sports Australia . 20 July 2020 . 30 June 2018.