Hussey excited to realise dream of playing with Wildcats

JACKSON Hussey has long been one of Western Australia's brightest basketball products and he grew up dreaming of playing at the Perth Wildcats, and couldn’t be more excited for it to become reality.

Hussey was one of WA's leading underage players and spent 2009 at the Australian Institute of Sports before embarking on his college career at the University of Pikeville.

He graduated earlier in 2016 before returning home to play in the SBL where he was a star on the Geraldton Buccaneers team that made the semi finals, including his 39-point quarter-final explosion in the Game 1 win over the Rockingham Flames.

But still coming into the NBL season for 2016/17 playing with his hometown Wildcats was still just a pipe dream for the 24-year-old.

However, once Jarrod Kenny and Damian Martin went down injured, Hussey was asked to come down to training and he impressed over the next two days to be signed by Perth and has played the first two games of his NBL career.

Nothing drove Hussey's passion growing more than his desire to play with the Wildcats.

"Every time I went out to the backyard to play I was imagining being at Challenge Stadium and making the shot when the game came down to the last seconds," Hussey said.

"I had always imagined playing for the Wildcats but there's a big difference between wanting to play and actually getting that call to suit up. It's been incredible."

Hussey was excited when told that he was being signed by the Wildcats by coach Trevor Gleeson, but it wasn’t a given when he was invited to training.

Perth Redbacks captain and former Wildcats and Sydney Kings point guard Joel Wagner was also invited down, but Hussey was over the moon to get the nod.

"It's definitely a very exciting time for me so I'm just getting amongst the guys, and concentrating on getting through the sets and what not, and feeling comfortable bringing the ball up and helping the boys get over the line," he said.

"It wasn’t immediate stepping up to it. I was asked to come down for a try out and after the next two days I played pretty well in practice and they were pretty impressed that I stayed in some sort of shape since the SBL season.

"Then once I went into the room and met with Trev, and he said that they would like to take me on board it was incredible. I had goose bumps and it was a dream come true."

Hussey has been a talent on the radar for a long time and that has seen him train with the Wildcats in his time back from college when Rob Beveridge was coach. But he was focused on his college career which he completed earlier this year.

That saw him return home and sign with the Buccs where he was tremendous under coach Aaron Trahair averaging 20.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists a game.


Getting that chance to run a team that played all the way to the semi finals is something Hussey has no doubt has helped him be prepared for an NBL opportunity.

"As far as coming from college to playing professionally or in the SBL, it's just a completely different kind of game style that kind of suits me where my speed and athleticism gives me a little bit of a jump on most of the players here," Hussey said.

"But getting that conditioning in and playing pretty large minutes, and having the ball in my hand and being relied on to make things happen was a good learning experience.

"I definitely got a lot out of that and it got me ready to come into the Wildcats after putting up plenty of shots, and learning what my strengths were. It definitely helped big time and Trahair as the coach helped me heaps."

With the injuries at the 'Cats to Martin and Kenny, it is Corban Wroe and Hussey entrusted with much of the point guard duties. Hussey is enjoying the chance to reconnect with the man he was at the AIS with seven years ago.

"I'm absolutely loving getting to play with Corban. I grew up with him at the AIS and we were both point guards fighting for spots for the World Championship team, but we also roomed together so we have a close mateship there," he said.

"But in terms of being at the Wildcats, he's got a couple of years advantage on me now and he's definitely helping me get through the ropes. I'm kind of following his lead and I'm seeing what he's learned, and I'm taking on board as much as I can."

Hussey got his first taste of the NBL playing a couple of minutes on the road against the Illawarra Hawks before getting more of a run last Saturday night at Perth Arena against the Adelaide 36ers in the third quarter after Martin injured his knee.

He felt the nerves building while sitting on the bench but once he hit the floor and was able to realise his dream, he felt right at home.

"I think the Illawarra game kind of set me up a little bit. I didn’t have as much nerves and I was much calmer being involved with the group a couple of weeks before then having to run things out there in my first home game," Hussey said.

"I felt comfortable out there and the game slowed down mentally for me. If anything I was just excited to get out there and just soak it all up. Then when I was on the bench I was probably more nervous than on the court because I could see the crowd and hear them.

"But once I was on the court and had the ball in my hands, I just focused on playing and I blocked all of that out there. You get so involved in the game that you forget everything going on around you."

Hussey enjoyed the chance to test himself against Jerome Randle as well and is now looking forward to tackling another player in a similar situation to himself and Wroe, Isaih Tutea against the New Zealand Breakers this Sunday at Perth Arena.

"I've heard about Izzy over the years and he's in the same spot as us trying to make a name for himself and trying to make the most of his chances, and exposing himself to the league," he said.

"It was a good taste to go up against the two quickest point guards in the league the last two weeks so now it might slow down a little bit. I might get a couple of extra dribbles before I have to get it on so I'm looking forward to that."

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Natasha Gilmartin




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