THE Penrith Basketball Association’s latest recruit to the NBL1 East Men’s squad, Jack McWilliams, is extremely well-credentialed and will ideally be a key member of the team through the remainder of the season.
Jack began his basketball career in the junior representative ranks with the Macarthur Heat, before moving to the Camden Valley Wildfire, where he played double-under age as an 18 year old in the Wildfire Youth League Men’s team (21 years & Under).
His schooling was at Sackville Street PS, Macquarie Fields HS, then at The King’s School, Parramatta.
Recruited to the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence (BA COE), Jack spent two years in the program before winning a scholarship to Oklahoma City University for the 2021-22 season.
He started in all 30 of his games as a Freshman, finishing the season with 165 points, 132 rebounds, 25 blocked shots, 5 assists and 4 steals. During that season, OCU reached the semi-finals of the Conference Tournament.
Jack continued to play a leading role the following season with OCU as a Sophomore, again starting in all 31 games during the season and finishing with 173 points, 136 rebounds, 26 blocked shots, 6 assists and 4 steals.
OCU head coach Mark Berokoff said “Jack has been very good for us the last two years while he’s learning the American game. We have been trying to figure out how to use him with his size so there have been times where he has struggled to get the ball, since we are so guarded wing heavy. But he has had some really good games in the last two years and is a force in the middle for people to have to deal with. He continues to get better every day and gain strength in the weight room and with our strength coach, I’m expecting a huge year from him coming up for his junior season.”
Jack is majoring in Computer Science at OCU and also has an excellent tertiary background, winning numerous awards at Lake Ginninderra HS, including the Vice Chancellor’s Award, the Information Technology Award, the Mathematics Association Award, the Physics Achievement Award honouree and the Elite Sport Academic Award.
