Latest news with #NextStar
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Aussie teen giant Rocco Zikarsky shooting for the NBA
Teen giant Rocco Zikarsky has joined the list of Australians taking their NBA shot in 2025 as the basketball league reveals its shortest list of early draft applicants in a decade. Only 106 players lodged an application for early entry, a requirement for those who are not automatically eligible from having played four years of college or from turning 22 this year. That's the lowest number of early applicants since 91 applied in 2015, the year Karl-Anthony Towns went with the No.1 pick. Zikarsky is one of four players from the NBL's Next Star program declaring for the draft that will be held across two days in late June, announcing his intentions on social media on Wednesday. "All in," the Brisbane Bullets centre wrote on his Instagram story accompanied by two crossed-fingers emojis. Players can only nominate for the NBA draft once. Rocco Zikarsky 🆚 Sydney Kings in 15 MINS:11 PTS4-6 FG (1-1 3PT) 2-2 FT5 REB1 BLK1 AST@BrisbaneBullets — NBL Next Stars (@NBLNextStars) October 6, 2024 Zikarsky had a quieter second campaign in the NBL that ended prematurely due to a knee injury. But he is still rated a chance to be taken in the second round of the draft, offering the rare and imposing height of 220cm. Sydney Kings wing Alex Toohey last month became the first of last season's Next Star class to announce he would declare and could be taken with a late first-round pick. Top Australian college talents Tyrese Proctor and Alex Condon have chosen to prematurely end their respective stints at Duke and the University of Florida to throw their hats in the ring. Power forward Condon turned his back on the possibility of an AFL career to play college ball and could be taken in the first round after seeing his draft stocks rise in recent weeks. Proctor, a point guard, is also rated a good chance of being selected after three seasons at one of the USA's most prominent basketball colleges. Trinidadian Malique Lewis and Spain's Izan Alamansa are the international Next Stars declaring for the draft after spending last NBL season with South East Melbourne and Perth, respectively. The last remaining member of last season's Next Star program Karim Lopez is too young to declare for the draft until next year, having only turned 18 this month. The Wildcats announced on Wednesday that Alamansa's Australian teammate Ben Henshall had also declared for the draft. Lachlan Olbrich is another Australian player with draft aspirations after playing two seasons with the Illawarra Hawks, with whom he won the most recent NBL championship. Given he turns 22 in December, Olbrich did not need to apply for entry into the draft and is considered a slimmer chance than Zikarsky or Toohey to be selected.
Perth Now
30-04-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
Aussie teen giant Rocco Zikarsky shooting for the NBA
Teen giant Rocco Zikarsky has joined the list of Australians taking their NBA shot in 2025 as the basketball league reveals its shortest list of early draft applicants in a decade. Only 106 players lodged an application for early entry, a requirement for those who are not automatically eligible from having played four years of college or from turning 22 this year. That's the lowest number of early applicants since 91 applied in 2015, the year Karl-Anthony Towns went with the No.1 pick. Zikarsky is one of four players from the NBL's Next Star program declaring for the draft that will be held across two days in late June, announcing his intentions on social media on Wednesday. "All in," the Brisbane Bullets centre wrote on his Instagram story accompanied by two crossed-fingers emojis. Players can only nominate for the NBA draft once. Zikarsky had a quieter second campaign in the NBL that ended prematurely due to a knee injury. But he is still rated a chance to be taken in the second round of the draft, offering the rare and imposing height of 220cm. Sydney Kings wing Alex Toohey last month became the first of last season's Next Star class to announce he would declare and could be taken with a late first-round pick. Top Australian college talents Tyrese Proctor and Alex Condon have chosen to prematurely end their respective stints at Duke and the University of Florida to throw their hats in the ring. Power forward Condon turned his back on the possibility of an AFL career to play college ball and could be taken in the first round after seeing his draft stocks rise in recent weeks. Proctor, a point guard, is also rated a good chance of being selected after three seasons at one of the USA's most prominent basketball colleges. Trinidadian Malique Lewis and Spain's Izan Alamansa are the international Next Stars declaring for the draft after spending last NBL season with South East Melbourne and Perth, respectively. The last remaining member of last season's Next Star program Karim Lopez is too young to declare for the draft until next year, having only turned 18 this month. The Wildcats announced on Wednesday that Alamansa's Australian teammate Ben Henshall had also declared for the draft. Lachlan Olbrich is another Australian player with draft aspirations after playing two seasons with the Illawarra Hawks, with whom he won the most recent NBL championship. Given he turns 22 in December, Olbrich did not need to apply for entry into the draft and is considered a slimmer chance than Zikarsky or Toohey to be selected.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Wilson bounces back to the NBL after AFL stint
Melbourne United have added another piece to their roster for the upcoming NBL season with the addition of former AFL player Tom Wilson. Wilson, who played eight AFL games for Collingwood, returned to basketball full-time in the second-tier NBL1 last year. The 27-year-old has since re-established himself as a dangerous scoring guard. He returns to the NBL with Melbourne on a one-season deal, having previously played for the Sydney Kings during the 2018-19 season. "It's super exciting, it feels like a dream come true," Wilson said. "I feel really privileged. It's not an opportunity that a lot of people get. "I'm excited about the basketball player I can become with this team. "I think the experiences I've had in basketball and in footy are only going to help me moving forward." Wilson has represented Australia at multiple levels, notably leading the country to a silver medal at the 2014 Under-17 FIBA World Championship. He also twice suited up for the Boomers during the 2019 Asia Cup Qualifiers. Wilson joins a Melbourne team seeking to remain in title contention despite the loss of NBA championship winners Matthew Dellavedova and Jack White. Chris Goulding, Shea Ili, Tanner Krebs, Kyle Bowen, Fabijan Krslovic and Next Star signing Dash Daniels are also on United's roster for next season. Melbourne have been runners-up in the last two NBL seasons under long-time coach Dean Vickerman, losing championship series to Illawarra and Tasmania. The 2025-26 NBL season tips off in September.
CBC
12-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
City of Windsor to extend bus service to Twin Oaks industrial park, research improved access
The City of Windsor will hire a transportation consultant to find both short and long-term solutions to enhance access to the Twin Oaks Industrial Park and will change the route of the Lauzon 10 bus to better service the park until a new route goes into effect. It will also look into sidewalks for the park, develop an active transportation plan for access, and speak with business owners in the park about possible temporary options to further improve transit service by using their properties as part of a route. City council passed a motion approving the actions at its Monday meeting. Ward 9 Coun. Kieran McKenzie requested the addition of the sidewalk, active transportation and improved temporary transit provisions. "[It's] really important that we deal with this immediately," McKenzie told council Monday. "There are ongoing traffic related issues that I have very very serious concerns about right now. I think there needs to be urgency and immediacy with whatever it is that we do." There's been public concern about traffic in the business park since 2022, when construction of the NextStar Energy battery plant left the intersection of Twin Oaks Drive and Lauzon Parkway as the only entrance and exit point. Increase in collisions Since then, there have been two emergencies in Twin Oaks, according to a report to council authored by Ian Day, the city's senior manager of traffic operations and parking. Both of those resulted in traffic being blocked from entering and exiting for a long period of time while emergency services responded – though NextStar agreed to open up E.C. Row Avenue East in order to let people out. Collisions at Twin Oaks Drive and Lauzon Parkway have increased in relation to the increase in traffic, according to the report. There had been no pedestrian-involved collisions between January 2015 and December 2024, but on Jan. 21 of this year, a woman was fatally struck by a vehicle as she was trying to cross Twin Oaks Drive on foot. Administration recommended in its report that council hold off on hiring the transportation consultant for four to six months until after NextStar has opened its dedicated access point off Banwell Road and traffic has had a chance to normalize. The city's Commissioner of Infrastructure Services, David Simpson, told council that the city also has significant road works planned for Banwell Road and Lauzon Parkway in its 10 year capital plan, and it does not want to do work prematurely that might not be needed in two to three years time. "The intersection at Twin Oaks and Lauzon is still functioning," Simpson said. "It's functioning at a reduced level of service, but it's certainly not at a point of failure." But McKenzie interrupted Simpson. "There was an accident there today – this morning," he said. Ward 8 Coun. Gary Kaschak, whose ward neighbours McKenzie's, said McKenzie is not exaggerating the traffic issues. The City of Windsor on Tuesday morning announced the new change to the Lauzon 10 bus service, which will last until the new 250 route serving Twin Oaks goes into effect. Starting Tuesday, Feb. 18, the southbound Lauzon 10 will service Twin Oaks Drive and Munich Court.
