Inside the rise (and rise) of Bonnie Deas
The Sydney Flames rookie and University of Arkansas commit has been even better than expected after an all-conquering junior career
Photo credit: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images
While her classmates were still sound asleep, a young Bonnie Deas would wake up at six a.m. every morning and set out on a ninety-minute bus journey to Rowville Secondary College.
The Sydney Flames rookie could have slept in. She could have gone to the school down the street.
But Deas was happy to make sacrifices and put in long hours of travel to go to a specialist sports academy to pursue her dream of playing professional basketball.
“It was a massive commitment but a great decision,” she tells The Pick and Roll. “I knew [the school] was going to have a great impact on my basketball, and I’ve honestly never looked back.”
Deas had started playing basketball when she was just five. She spent her junior years in the famous Frankston Blues program, often under the tutelage of the vastly experienced Kerryn Mitchell.
“She was a massive influence on my career growing up,” Deas recalls.
At Rowville, she found another important mentor in former Adelaide 36er Dean Kinsman, who became a role model with his emphasis on hard work.
Former Opal Jenni Screen, who was part of Basketball Victoria’s coaching staff, also helped broaden Deas’ skill set. While Deas had moved between the two and three spots as a junior, Screen encouraged her to branch out and play some point guard, getting her the reps to improve her ball-handling and play-making ability.
With these mentors guiding the way, Deas combined her steely commitment to self-improvement and her natural athletic ability to become one of the best guard prospects in Australia’s junior system, winning a Centre of Excellence scholarship in 2023.
But while her junior career saw her establish herself as an elite scorer with maturity beyond her years and an ability to rebound above her size, it wasn’t without its setbacks.
Most notably, when she was fifteen, she suffered a major back injury that meant she missed out on multiple representative tournaments and made her rethink her approach to training.
“That’s when I started to learn about load management,” she says. “I finally got to compete for Victoria at under 20s, though I’d made multiple teams before then. It was good to finally compete with the big V on my chest.
“The injuries were tough, but they’ve also helped me become the player I am today.”
2024 proved a massive year for Deas.
In February, she was named MVP at the U20 National Championships after dominating with 20.5 points per game.
Deas also proved her mettle at the international level with a fine showing at the U18 Women’s Asia Cup, where she helped Australia win the title. Her all-round contributions must have pushed her close to All-Star Five honours; she ranked first in the tournament in steals, fourth for efficiency, fifth in points per game and she led all guards with six rebounds per game.
Her strong domestic and international form garnered Deas an invite to the 2024 Basketball Without Borders Global Girls Camp, which brought together 40 of the best school-age prospects from 25 different countries.
Deas attended the event with other top Australian prospects like Saffron Shiels and Monique Bobongie and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, which included attending the WNBA All-Star game.
“You get to meet players from all around the world, and I built some great friendships,” she says.
“It was really good because you also got coaches from all over the world. I had a Spanish coach at one of my WNBA camps, and obviously, the language barrier was hard, but it was good taking in what they've learned and seeing what they can teach us.”
Deas’ strong showing at the camp, where she recorded a scorching time of 3.31 seconds in the ¾ court sprint at the combine, further boosted her stocks and saw more US colleges interested in recruiting her.
“As an international, it’s a bit harder to build connections with them, but I had a lot of Zoom calls and had to narrow it down to four schools to visit,” she says of the college recruitment process.
“The main things for me were good people, a school that would support my academics just as much as my basketball, and a college that was willing to develop me, not just as a basketball player.”
Eventually, Deas committed to join the University of Arkansas after WNBL25, and she looks forward to studying business or psychology at the school.
As if last year wasn’t packed enough already, Deas also took her first steps into big-time basketball, signing an amateur contract with the Sydney Flames for the WNBL24/25 season.
While many fine prospects her age settle for garbage-time minutes or a deep bench role, the 18-year-old Deas immediately forced her way into the rotation and made an impact, logging three steals in just 12 minutes in a win over Canberra in her first game.
Since then, she’s scored 5.6 points per game – including three triples in a 13-point effort against Townsville - and cemented her position as one of Australia’s most exciting young talents, showcasing her speed in the open court and an explosive first step.
Her shooting has also translated beautifully to the pros; while she only assesses her shooting as “ok” this year and says she wants to improve the consistency of her shot, her numbers are outstanding with 41.2% on three-pointers and 87.5% on free throws.
Drawn to the Flames by coach Guy Molloy’s plans to develop her game, Deas says it’s “definitely been a surprise” to earn so much court time.
“My mentality coming into this season was just to develop as much as I can and be a sponge, soaking up being around WNBA players and learning them. It's been great being able to play, but it definitely wasn't an expectation.”
With her Flames team currently in fourth spot on the ladder, Deas pays tribute to the team’s veterans for keeping a youthful squad on track.
“Cayla [George] is always willing to help you out,” she says. “She knows how to explain things in a way you can understand, and she’s such a great leader. I admire how she can control the team when things aren’t going our way.”
“Celeste [Taylor] is also helping me become a better defender. She’s a nightmare to match up on [at training], and she’s helping me to read the game better.”
Off the court, Deas has relished the move to the harbour city. While she’s understandably been too busy to get her driver’s licence, she enjoys jumping on public transport and exploring the beaches, thrift shops and cafes her new hometown has to offer.
“I’ve really enjoyed it; it’s very different to Melbourne. There’s much better weather here in Sydney, and better beaches, though I’m still a Melbourne girl at heart.
Listening to her enthuse about the city, it’s clear she has a curiosity about her, a willingness to get out of her comfort zone. It’s a quality that will serve her well as her basketball journey continues.
“I really like to venture out,” she says. “I just love seeing new places and experiencing new things.”