Luke Nevill on his NBL career, NBA experiences and the decline of the big man

Aussie Hoopla NBL & NBA Podcast

Luke Nevill grew up playing basketball for the Stirling Senators in Western Australia. After struggling to get noticed by elite coaches in Australia he moved to the United States to play high school basketball with Kell High School in Marietta, Georgia.

It didn't take long to be noticed by the University of Utah and accepted a scholarship in 2004. He decided to redshirt his first year as a Utah Ute and developed his skills during training sessions against fellow big man Andrew Bogut.

With NBA interest growing around Nevill he decided to return to college for his senior season, leading the Utes to the NCAA Tournament. At the conclusion of the season, he was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 16.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.7 blocks per game.

Nevill went undrafted and after participating in a training camp invitation from the Cleveland Cavaliers he became one of the first Australian's to go on to play in the NBA D-League, signing with the Utah Flash in 2009.

He played 48 games, started 43 of them and averaged 11.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 blocks per game.

In 2010 Nevill returned to Australia, signing a deal with the Melbourne Tigers. It was a tumultuous season for the Tigers, after recruiting multiple big men (Cam Tragardh, Wade Helliwell and Matthew Burston had also signed deals that season) the team had an unbalanced roster and failed to make the playoffs.

Nevill averaged 12 points, 7 rebounds and 1 block in only 25 minutes per game.

The following year Nevill returned to Perth when the opportunity to play for his hometown Perth Wildcats came along. In the 2011–12 NBL season, Nevill averaged 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block per game and helped the team reach the NBL Grand Final where they narrowly lost to the New Zealand Breakers.

Nevill signed a pre-season deal with the Indiana Pacers in 2012. He narrowly missed out on making the team and then returned to the NBL, signing with the Townsville Crocodiles mid-season.

Nevill played in Taiwan during the 2013–14 season before returning for his last NBL season with the Wollongong Hawks in 2014.

It was a difficult season for Nevill who averaged the lowest numbers of his NBL career, 7 points, 6 rebounds per game in a team that finished dead last with a record of 6-22.

Nevill would play the remainder of his career in Taiwan and Qatar before retiring in 2018.

• Coaching in the US High School system during COVID-19 (2:00)
• Junior basketball playing for the Stirling Senators in WA (10:00)
• Playing high school basketball in the states (12:00)
• Attending Utah University (14:30)
• Entering the NBA Draft and reflections on if he stayed at college too long (20:00)
• Lebron James and Shaquille O'Neal stories from Cleveland Cavaliers training camp (28:30)
• Returning to Australia to play with the Melbourne Tigers (33:00)
• An opportunity to play in Russia (36:00)
• A last-minute signing with the Perth Wildcats and narrowly missing out on an NBL championship (44:00)
• An opportunity to play in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers (48:30)
• A year with the Townsville Crocodiles (51:00)
• Playing in the SBL with the Kalamunda Suns (53:00)
• Representing the Australian Boomers in 2013 (54:00)
• Why his final season in the NBL with Wollongong was the toughest year of his career (58:00)
• The decline of the big man and how it impacted Luke's career (102:00)
• The culture shock of playing in Taiwan (104:30)
• The biggest mistakes of his career and what Luke learnt from them (109:00)
• The highlight of his career (1:12:00)

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Listen to our previous interviews with the biggest stars in Australian Basketball, head to Aussiehoopla.com. Check out previous podcasts featuring;

Australian Basketball Legends - Luc Longley, Andrew Gaze, Shane Heal, Mark Bradtke, Leroy Loggins, David Andersen, Andrew Vlahov, CJ Bruton, Chris Anstey, Brett Maher, John Rillie, Tony Ronaldson, Brad Newley

Current NBL Stars -Donald Sloan, AJ Ogilvy, Damian Martin, Daniel Kickert, Thomas Abercrombie, Jason Cadee, Bryce Cotton, Chris Goulding, Mitch McCarron, Cam Gliddon, Anthony Drmic

Our Finest Coaching Minds - Brian Goorjian, Barry Barnes, Joey Wright, Adrian Hurley, Aaron Fearne, Rob Beveridge, Phil Smyth, Ian Stacker, Shawn Dennis, Dean Vickerman, Trevor Gleeson, Lindsey Gaze, Ken Cole, Will Weaver

NBA Stars Past & Present - Andrew Bogut, Matthew Dellavedova, Stephen Jackson, Randy Livingston, Torrey Craig, Acie Earl, Josh Childress, Reggie Smith, Todd Lichti, Ryan Broekhoff, Doug Overton

The NBL's Greatest Imports - Darryl McDonald, Ricky Grace, Derek Rucker, Leon Trimmingham, Scott Fisher, Lanard Copeland, Mike Mitchell, Darnell Mee, Isaac Burton, Adonis Jordan, Shawn Redhage, Willie Farley, Al Green, Corey "Homicide" Williams, Andre Moore, Steve Woodberry, Mike Mitchell, Dusty Rychart, Ebi Ere, Doug Overton, Kevin Lisch

And the men who run things - Larry Kestelman, Paul Maley, Vince Crivelli, Jeremy Loeliger, Chuck Harmison, Jeff Van Groningen, Bob Turner

All that and much more.

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