Melbourne United Sign Marquee Daniel Kickert
The Melbourne United Basketball Club have today announced their most recent signing, Daniel Kickert who will be placed under the new ‘marquee player ruling’, implemented by the NBL at the beginning of this off-season.
The former St Mary’s product has most recently been playing for Spanish team CB Canarias Tenerife since the end of March, who had finished 11th in their 18 team competition with a record of 14-20. He played in nine of those games, after finishing up with Ukrainian Superleague team Azovmash Mariupol, averaging around 20 minutes a game for 10ppg and just under 4rpg.
Kickert, 31, has had international experience in both Spain and Ukraine as of late, as well as in Italy and Poland as late as 2012, which may provide him with an invaluable advantage heading into the 2014/15 NBL season.
Signs pointed to an Aussie homecoming only a couple of years ago (December 2012) from an interview by Dan Boyce on Aussie Hoopla:
“It’s frustrating that I’ve never played in an NBL game, I’ve never played in front of family and friends in a professional level on home soil…. hopefully in the next few years”
The Australian/Dutch dual international played for Australia in the 2006 FIBA World Cup in Japan (13th place finish) alongside Andrew Bogut, CJ Bruton and now Melbourne United teammates David Barlow and Mark Worthington.