Could Rocco Zikarsky break out in NBL25 and become Australia's next NBA big?

Looking back at Zikarsky's recent NBL season, and film breakdown on his dominance at the prestigious Albert Schweitzer Cup. He's ready for a larger role with the NBL's Brisbane Bullets.

In recent years, Australia has seen a flurry of elite guard prospects come through the men’s national team, including Josh Giddey, Dyson Daniels, Josh Green and Danté Exum to name a few. But the nation has been starved of an NBA-level big man prospect, at least at the junior level. When Queenslander Rocco Zikarsky burst onto the scene, there was plenty of hype to suggest that he could be Australia’s greatest centre prospect since Andrew Bogut. Standing at 7’3’’ tall at age 17, Zikarsky was born to play basketball, and his recent feats at the Albert Schweitzer cup add much credence to the hype.

Zikarsky made headlines when he became an NBL Next Star, as the youngest player in the program’s short history. At his age, he wasn’t expected to be a major contributor in the Brisbane Bullets’ big man rotation, which included NBA veteran Aron Baynes and NCAA Division I standout Josh Bannan. But in his preseason debut, Zikarsky found his time to shine on an undermanned Bullets roster, and put up a monster statline. He logged 23 points, eight rebounds and six blocks in just twenty minutes of playing time against Cal Baptist, proving to be a two-way force.

In his very first senior game, it was already clear that Zikarsky was pro-ready in numerous areas. He used his length to good effect as a rim protector, by stifling layup attempts and producing impressive closeouts against short range jumpers. Offensively, he was capable of turning to either side, and thus launching a hook shot withe either hand after backing down a smaller opponent in the post. The smooth lefty even had the confidence to occasionally put the ball on the floor, and attempt a dribble from the perimeter. Unsurprisingly, the seven footer had no trouble getting above the rim, and he epitomised the old adage: “you can’t teach size”.

That preseason game perhaps set up unrealistic expectations for fans however, as Zikarsky was always entering a developmental year. He signed a two-year deal to complete the Next Stars program, and wasn’t going to be NBA draft eligible until 2025. After the Bullets finished second to last the year prior, new head coach Justin Schueller was under pressure to turn things around. As such, Zikarsky often found himself on the end of the bench, with his minutes average sitting in single digits. Nevertheless, the 17 year old showed flashes throughout NBL24 - including an 11-minute outing against the Sydney Kings, where he stuffed their experienced centre Jordan Hunter a whopping four times.

At the close of the season, Brisbane narrow missed out on a play-in berth, falling to seventh position in the final round. Schueller wasted no time in engineering a rebuild; the Bullets promptly parted ways with star guard Nathan Sobey, while Baynes enters free agency at the close of his two-year deal.

Credit: May Bailey Photography

As of right now, Zikarsky finds himself in a tussle with Tyrell Harrison for the Bullets’ starting centre position, although there is plenty of time between now and the start of NBL25. There’s every chance Brisbane will be hawking the free agency market to secure an additional big man.

Nevertheless, Zikarsky recently proved to be a standout amongst his peers at the Albert Schweitzer Under-18 World Tournament. The prestigious meet has been graced by some of the game’s greatest ever big men - including Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki. Zikarsky won tournament MVP honours after leading Australia to just their second Albert Schweitzer title - replicating the feats of the 2010 team, led by Mitch Creek and Hugh Greenwood.

The 7’3 Zikarsky was simply too much for opposing defences to handle. He finished on tournament averages of 18.7 points (fifth in the tournament), 11.0 rebounds (first), 2.9 blocks (first) 73.1% shooting from the field, while playing a touch under 26 minutes per game. Australia cruised to blowout wins over Turkey, the Czech Republic, Japan and Slovenia (all 25+ point margins), and won comfortably against Germany and Italy (14-point margins), but faced their toughest test in the final match against Serbia.

With a gold medal on the line, Zikarsky rose to the occasion and led Australia to a narrow 71-65 win over their talented Serbian counterparts. He came away with twenty points, twelve rebounds, three blocks and a team high +/- of +11, all while shooting 9/13 from the floor. It was a quintessential showing of big man dominance, with the 7’3 showing off a number of powerful above the rim finishes, and dominating on the glass.

As the film below shows, nobody in the Serbian front court could match Zikarsky’s hulking frame, and the Aussie used his size advantage to good effect.