WHO will stop the Joondalup Wolves claiming back-to-back State Basketball League titles in 2016?
The assignment for opposition sides appears foreboding.
Not only have the Wolves retained the core of their 2015 championship-winning group, including exciting American big man Kevin Davis, but they’ve added a second athletic US import Bobby Evans from Sacramento, California.
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READ NOWThe 203cm forward, with a 213cm wingspan, arrives from the semi-professional American Basketball Association and the 25-year-old is hoping his defensive ability and energy will add to Joondalup’s potency.
“This team is full of amazing basketball players and they will be great with or without me,” he said.
“I just hope I can help the club win another SBL championship.”
Evans found himself at the Wolves after being granted an Australian working holiday visa.
He had heard positive reports about Perth and the SBL from contacts in the US, which led him to base himself in WA.
Then Joondalup came calling.
“When I walked into the Wolves stadium, I felt like I was home and I knew this is where I wanted to be,” he said.
“I love my teammates, I went to the first training session and I was embraced by the guys and the coaching staff and it’s been a great fit on and off the court.”
Having never visited Australia before, Evans was amazed at Perth’s beaches, saying he was “so comfortable here it’s like I’ve been here for years”.
He represents a handy addition to a talented Wolves side also strengthened by the return of the dexterous Reece Maxwell, who was a key part of the Wolves 2013 grand final team, which fell agonisingly short of a championship upset against Lakeside Lightning.
In other Wolves news, the City of Joondalup and Merriwa Tavern will again be co-major sponsors of the men’s and women’s sides in 2016.
And the club will this Sunday honour retired administrators Van and Mary Kailis with a farewell function.
Chief executive Cameron Britt encouraged those who shared the Kailis’ near 30-year journey to RSVP to feedback@wolves.asn.au win.