The annual Basketball New Zealand Awards, held at the Pipitea Marae and Function Centre in Wellington on Saturday night, saw awards handed out to 24 worthy recipients – in recognition of their excellence and achievement in basketball for the 2022 calendar year.
Highlights from the Awards night included Charlisse Leger-Walker being named both MVP for the year as well as Female Player of the Year, after a stellar year both in the NCAA College basketball and with the Tall Ferns. Meanwhile Isaac Fotu was named Male Player of the Year, following his performances both in the top tier of the Japan League and with the Tall Blacks as they qualified for the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Maia Jones and Dontae Russo-Nance took out the awards for Female and Male Junior Player of the Year respectively – Dontae for the second straight year – while Bronwen Davidson claimed the Female Coach of the Year award and Greg Brockbank won Male Coach of the Year. The Zena Gay Award, who recognises a notable contribution to women’s basketball in New Zealand was awarded to Glenda Taylor while Iain Potter was a deserved recipient of the Sir Lance Cross Award.
Basketball New Zealand also inducted five new members into its prestigious Hall of Fame: Leigh Houston, Kenny McFadden, Tab Baldwin, Tania Tupu and the 2002 Tall Blacks squad that finished fourth at the FIBA World Champs.
The night culminated with BBNZ bestowing its highest honour – the Basketball New Zealand Legend – to the 1958 Women’s New Zealand National Team, as the only New Zealand national team to have beaten Australia 3-0 in a series.
HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
Leigh Houston (player) – Leigh is one of the preeminent players of her time, playing for the Women’s National team from 1971-1977. She also captained the 1969 U18 team that attended the Australian State Champs for the first time. At 5’10”, she was a taller member of the New Zealand team but considerably smaller than a number of the Australian forwards.
Domestically, Leigh won a national title with Nelson in 1973, repeating the feat the following year but this time in Otago colours. Leigh earned South Island representation on two occasions and after moving to Wellington, North Island representation five times. After retiring from playing, she continued in the game as a coach for over ten years.
Kenny McFadden (player, coach and contributor) – Michigan native Kenny McFadden came to New Zealand in 1982 after playing at Washington State University. In his first year he guided the Saints to the Second Division title before carrying the club to six straight NBL finals finishing as champions on four occasions. He played 252 NBL games in his career, exceeding 5000 career points at over 20 points per game – his #5 jersey retired in his honour.
Following his retirement in 1996 Kenny became heavily involved in junior player development setting up his own Hoops Academy in the capital. He coached the Junior Tall Blacks at the 2009 FIBA U19 World Cup, and also had stints as assistant coach of his beloved Saints. Kenny also took 14-year-old Steven Adams under his wing and guided the Kiwis rise to the NBA.
Tab Baldwin (Coach) – Tab arrived in New Zealand in 1988, having coached in the States for five years. He enjoyed immediate success, taking Otago from the second division to the NBL, then moved north to Auckland where he guided the Auckland Stars to five titles in eight years – with Tab named NBL Coach of the Year on four occasions. He took the reins of the national team in 2001 and had immediate success with the team beating Australia 2-1 to win the 2001 FIBA Oceania Championship, the victory propelling the Tall Blacks to the 2002 World Cup. The Tall Blacks enjoyed a stunning run at that World Cup to finish fourth – the highest placed finish by an Oceania team at a FIBA event.
In 2004 he coached the Tall Blacks to a tenth-place finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics, then took the team to silver medal success at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, victories against Australia in 2004 and 2006 and then coached the team to the quarter-finals at the 2006 FIBA World Championships.
2002 Men’s New Zealand National Team – this squad enjoyed an incredible campaign at the 2002 World Cup, eventually finishing fourth, and in so doing captured the imagination of the New Zealand sporting public. The team reads like a “Who’s Who” of the Tall Blacks – only 11 players have played 100 tests for New Zealand and six of them were at those World Champs in Indianapolis and the 12 players totalled 1,173 international appearances between them.
Pero Cameron, a future FIBA Hall of Famer and BBNZ Legend, was named to the All-star team at the champs after averaging 14.7 points and 5 rebounds per game. Phill Jones led New Zealand in scoring averaging 18.2 ppg while Kirk Penney tallied 16.9 per contest; Mark “Sparky” Dickel second in assists with 4.6 per game. The other team members of the star studded 12 were Paul Henare, Dillon Boucher, Judd Flavell, Paora Winitana, Damon Rampton, Ed Book, Robert Hickey and Sean Marks. Head Coach was Tab Baldwin and Assistant Coach Nenad Vucinic.
Tania Tupu (player) – Tania played 93 games for the Tall Ferns – ninth all-time on the Tall Ferns list – representing New Zealand at the 1994 FIBA World Championships and both the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. Tania was second highest scorer for New Zealand at the World Champs and also second at the Sydney Games. She made her international debut at the William Jones Cup in Taiwan in 1992 before signing off her illustrious career at the Athens Olympics in 1994.
She played NCAA Division I basketball at the University of Hawaii and averaged 19.6 points per game in her senior year – the fifth highest single season scoring average in the programme’s history. Tania earned a trial with WNBA team Houston Comets before going on to play in the Australian WNBL for the Perth Lynx. Tania then returned to New Zealand and won a National title with the Waikato Lady Titans in 2002. In recent years she has given back to the game as a coach. In 2022, as head coach of the Tokomanawa Queens, Tania guided the team to the inaugural Tauihi Aotearoa Championship.
BASKETBALL NEW ZEALAND LEGEND
1958 Women’s New Zealand National Team – this was the only New Zealand national team, men’s or women’s, to have beaten Australia 3-0 in a series. The uniqueness of the this team’s participation in international basketball – the first women’s series to be played under FIBA international rules – saw the 10-woman squad playing a demanding 6 games in 6 days at the Australian State Championships and 14 games total played in 3 weeks. The team played well to win 5 out of 6 games at the State Championships as a lead into the international series.
The 1958 team comprised of captain Irone Brough, Alma Coulson, Anita Hannen, Noeline Marsh, Beverley Green, Val Rogers, the Otago trio of Lois Muir, Frances Pedofsky and Diane Enright plus the youngest member of the team 20-year-old Maureen McDermott. This team achieved something unique in New Zealand international basketball history and are worthy recipients of Legend status.
LANCE MCGLOUGHLIN TROPHY FOR FEMALE JUNIOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Maia Jones – Maia enjoyed an outstanding 2022 on both international and domestic fronts. She led New Zealand at the FIBA U16 Asian Championship and FIBA U17 World Cup in Hungary – leading the team in scoring at the latter. A month earlier, she helped New Zealand finish fourth at the Asia Championship in Jordan, leading the team in scoring and assists.
Domestically, Maia played for U19 National Championship runners-up Canterbury and was named in the tournament team, while also playing in the inaugural Tauihi Aotearoa for Mainland Pouakai. She captained Waimea College at the Secondary Schools Nationals, leading all scorers with 35.7points per game. Maia also attended the Basketball Without Borders Asia NBA camp in Canberra.
AMBASSADORS TROPHY FOR MALE JUNIOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Dontae Russo-Nance – Dontae was the winner of this award for the second year in a row, after he enjoyed an outstanding second Sal’s NBL season with the Auckland Tuatara in 2022 – the 17-year-old averaging 15.4 points, 4.6 assists and a league high 2.9 steals per game as the Auckland Tuatara advanced to the NBL Grand Final – being named the NBL’s 2022 Youth Player of the Year.
He led St Kentigern College to first place at the Zone 1 Nationals Qualifying Tournament, posting multiple 50-point games during the Auckland Secondary Schools season. In August Dontae was selected to attend the Basketball Without Borders Asia NBA camp in Canberra, his second trip to Canberra that year after being invited to train at the NBA Global Academy in March.
MALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Isaac Fotu – Isaac Fotu won this award following both his capturing of the Japan League championship in 2022 and his participation at the FIBA World Cup Qualifying games where he helped New Zealand secure a berth at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Isaac played World Cup qualifiers against Saudi Arabia and Jordan as well as a warm-up game against Japan, and currently plays for Brex Utsunomiya that play in the Japan-B1, the top league in the country. Despite Brex only finishing seventh in the regular season, they put together an impressive play-off campaign in 2022 – beating second seed Chiba 2-0 in the quarter-finals, then seeing off Kawasaki 2-0 in the semi’s and repeated the 2-0 margin in the Grand Final series against Ryukyu.
FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD & MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Charlisse Leger-Walker – Charlisse bagged a double with both the Female Player of the Year Award and overall MVP, after she compiled an outstanding collegiate career in 2022, as the Washington State Cougars earned a berth at the NCAA National Championship. She led the Cougars in scoring with 483 points – the second highest points aggregate in the Pac-12 Conference – and was second in rebounds, assists and steals. She was Named to the All-Pac 12 First team for her efforts.
Charlisse moved into elite company as she became the 16th Kiwi to score 1,000 points in Women’s NCAA Division I college hoops, since taking her tally on to 1,465 career points. Despite her heavy collegiate schedule, Charlisse played all four games for New Zealand on the tour of Australia last October – scoring in double figures in each game while averaging 17 points per game.
CAROLYN GREY FEMALE COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD
Bronwen Davidson – In 2022 Bronwen’s Westlake Girls High School team produced a historic 30 wins and zero losses season. Westlake completed the treble winning the Auckland Premier Grade title, the Zone 1 National Qualifying Tournament and, for the first time in the school’s history, the ‘AA’ Secondary Schools National Championship. Bronwen is a senior teacher at Murrays Bay Intermediate School on Auckland’s North Shore, where she plays a major role in organising the 30 teams the school has playing in the local Harbour competition.
KEITH MAIR MALE COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD
Greg Brockbank – Greg wins this award after his being a driving force and an inspiration for the Women & Girls pathway in Otago; he has played a leading role from the Otago Under 13s rep programme, the Junior Academy Programme, and right through to Head Coach of the Otago Gold Rush. In 2022 he took the Otago Under 19 Women’s team to Nationals, where they defied the odds to reach the semifinals. He also coached at the combined Men’s U23 National Championship and the Women’s D League Tournament held in Auckland last August and is also currently the Player Development Coach for the reigning NBL Champions, the Otago Nuggets.
SIR LANCE CROSS AWARD (EXCEPTIONAL SERVICES TO BASKETBALL)
Iain Potter – This award is presented to an individual who have given exceptional services to basketball – so it’s appropriate to award this to Iain Potter, who spent over nine years as Chief Executive of New Zealand Basketball. During his tenure he helped turn around an organisation in financial trouble, into one that is healthy and high-performing; helping basketball to become the sport of choice for many New Zealand youth.
Iain has been a huge supporter of equity for the women’s side of basketball, which has resulted in equity in funding and player payments. He oversaw the introduction of the new FIBA qualifying structure for the men’s game, resulting in more frequent home games for the Tall Blacks and Tall Ferns. Under Iain’s stewardship BBNZ was an early-adopter of the 3×3 game, resulting in 2 early World Titles for our U18 Men’s teams and numerous medals for our men’s and women’s teams participating at other FIBA international events.
Iain was also honoured on the night as the recipient of FIBA’s prestigious Patricia Ramsay Award.
THE ZENA GAY MEMORIAL AWARD
Glenda Taylor – this award recognises a notable contribution to women’s basketball in New Zealand, with Glenda known as a tough competitor and an intelligent player. She played for the national team from 1962-1966 touring Australia with the 1964 team, finishing with a 6-6 record. She played for the North Island team on four occasions during this period and again in 1974.
Glenda began playing as a 14-year-old at Wellington Technical College and quickly came to the notice of Wellington selectors and would go on to represent the province for twenty years including a spell as captain. She also spent time as manager of the Wellington Basketball Stadium in Newtown, and combined her academic and research skills with her passion for basketball to write and compile the “Let’s Go Girls” book – which traces the history of New Zealand Women’s Basketball through the pioneer years from 1939 to 1979.
STAR AWARD
Ari Hallenberg – Ari contributed significantly to basketball in Auckland and New Zealand over an extended period of time. Ari arrived in New Zealand from Finland in 1971 and in 1979 set up Global Sports Promotions with Ian Shaw. He saw the opportunity to develop the TV screening of the NBL with a trial run on TV2 in 1981 enjoying instant success; Global Sports retaining the rights to the televising of the NBL through to 1989. Spectator numbers grew rapidly in the 1980’s, and in 1987 Global Sports contracted the USSR National Men’s team to tour NZ and Australia.
Ari was a Director of the NBL from 2005-2007 and continued his involvement in the game for over three decades using his skills to help in areas of sponsorship, media engagement, advertising and promotion, hospitality, and a myriad of other activities to ensure success. Ari passed away on March 9, 2022 aged 81.
CEDRIC CUDBY VOLUNTEER AWARD
Peter Marshall – Peter has been a stalwart of refereeing for Northland Basketball for over 40 years, having officiated across the NBL, BBNZ National Tournaments and at a community level. He is also a noted referee coach and evaluator, developing and training many young officials at regional and at national age group tournaments.
Tony Eldershaw – Tony has been involved in basketball over many years, initially as a player before taking up refereeing. He has spent countless hours over the past 10 years working with, and supporting referees in the associations across Taranaki; many young referees in the region owe Tony a token of gratitude for his support.
YOUNG OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR AWARD
Brittney Young – Brittney had a stellar year in 2022 both at a local level and on the national stage; she is one of Basketball Otago’s stand out referees and had the distinction of being appointed the 2022 Men’s Club Final. Nationally, she has had a successful year attending the AON Under 19 National Championships, Tertiary National Championships and Secondary School National Championships – all while balancing a full-time job. Brittney’s performances last year earned her a spot as one of two new officials selected for the National Leagues Panel in 2023.
IAN GOODWIN SERVICES TO OFFICIATING AWARD
John Zimmerman – John began refereeing in New Plymouth, going on to officiate at a number of National tournaments during the 1980’s and 1990’s. In 2003 he became an NBL referee evaluator, and then a referee trainer – where we attended numerous national and regional tournaments. Since 2021 he has continued as a Regional and National referee trainer getting involved wherever he can.
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP AWARD
Capital Basketball – The Community Partnership Award is an opportunity to identify, celebrate, promote and encourage exceptional partnering with a regional or local entity for the benefit of community basketball. The 2022 recipient is Capital Basketball for the Matariki Basketball Festival, a 3-day event held in June with the intent of bringing together all ages, mobility levels and cultures that share a love for the beautiful game of basketball. The Matariki Basketball Festival was a huge success with over 40 teams participating, including teams from Special Olympics, clubs, schools, wheelchair basketball and the local community.
COMMUNITY INNOVATION AWARD
Gisborne Basketball – this award is an opportunity to identify, recognise and celebrate exceptional community initiatives delivered by member associations in community leadership. The 2022 winner is Gisborne Basketball with their Hoops in Parks- Tairawhiti initiative. The project saw 4 new outdoor courts created for the local communities, which helped address the lack of facilities in the region. The initiative is also helping to address Crime and vandalism in the area and provides a respectful place that helps keep at-risk youth engaged through the many benefits that sport provides.
LONG SERVICE AWARD (40 YEARS SERVICE)
Darrell Pene – Over the last 40 years Darrell, aka Rangitihi, Pene has worn many hats – coaching, refereeing, committee member, playing socially, coach education and court convening at weekly leagues and tournaments.
He coached his first team at Newlands College in Wellington, going on to take the Whanganui High School girl’s team to the National Championships and later the second-ever U16 Nationals. Arriving in Rotorua in 1992, Darrell coached at Rotorua Lakes High, John Paul College – taking the girls’ team to runners-up at Nationals – Rotorua Boys High and Rotorua Girls High. He was appointed as head coach to the Junior Tall Ferns in 2007, winning the Main Event Tournament in Las Vegas a highlight.
LONG SERVICE AWARD (40 YEARS SERVICE)
John Zimmerman – John receives his second award of the night as we recognise his service to the game. He began his basketball days in 1965 when he first played in Waitara, then played for Inglewood High School, subsequently becoming President; a position he held until he moved to New Plymouth in 1987. He is actively involved in New Plymouth with his daughter Shelley in developing young referees from ages 7 and up. He mentors in the Taranaki Secondary School competition and is an encouraging figure in all the schools competitions in the New Plymouth and Taranaki region.
LONG SERVICE AWARD (50 YEARS SERVICE)
Darrel Flynn-Thompson – Darrel has been involved solely in the Canterbury region for the entirety of his basketball career. In 1973, Darrel started helping run school basketball games at the old YMCA in Greers Road – soon after this he was looking after Burnside as well, responsible for both refereeing and venue control. Darrel was the club representative on the CBA Board for the Hot Shots Club and from 1980–1992 Darrel served as the president of the Club; he also became a member of the Canterbury Basketball Officials Association, serving as President of that Association for 12 years.
Darrel has attended over 50 BBNZ Tournaments over the year, assisting Canterbury teams. He was a member of the inaugural committee for the Canterbury Rams, volunteered for fifteen years in total, and has never missed a year of helping run Canterbury High School Basketball.
