Springwood native Angus Brandt’s hard work has seen him take out the Sydney Kings Mike Wrublewski Most Influential Player Award.
Head coach Joe Connelly described Brandt as “one of the hardest workers on the team. He’s the first one in and last one out.”
That dedication has paid off on the court. Brandt started the season averaging four points and three rebounds, to finish averaging 12 points, seven rebounds a game.
“There’s no limits on how far he can take his game,” Connelly said.
The 26-year-old power forward stepped up late last year when star centre Julian Khazzough suffered a serious knee injury. Brandt moved into centre and picked his game up and his confidence.
Brandt has played since age 11, but took the game more seriously when joining the Springwood Scorchers U18s. He went on to captain US college basketball side Oregon State Beavers, and joined Sydney Kings in 2014.
He was honoured to receive the award.
“The man it’s named after [Mike Wrublewski] was extremely influential to the Sydney Kings and the league as a whole, so to receive it makes me proud,” Brandt said.
Now the NBL season has finished, Brandt left Australia at the weekend to play for Lithuania in the Lithuanian Basketball League with BC Neptunas.
He will be with BC Neptunas until June, or July if they make the playoffs. The team is currently placed third in the LBL and was was founded in 1962.
