Moses Guthrie
Years ago
36er recruit in the making?
STAR Horsham basketball export Shane McDonald will use South East Australian Basketball League side Albury-Wodonga Bandits as a potential stepping stone to the National League.
McDonald will make his first appearance for the Bandits against Frankston on Saturday following his arrival back in Australia after a stint in American college basketball.
The star point guard made a flying visit to Horsham at the weekend to visit family and friends where he confirmed plans to pursue his career in Australia.
The integral member of Horsham Hornets' history-making double hat-trick of premierships said he was eyeing a spot on Adelaide 36ers' roster with the help of Hornets coach Owen Hughan.
"I will play with Albury until the end of the season in July and then hopefully have a try out with the 36ers," McDonald said. "Owen's been talking to their coaches. That's the way I'd like to go. It will just be a matter of working it all out."
McDonald said he opted against transferring to another American school after Nova Southeastern University failed to renew an intended four-year scholarship at the end of his first season in March.
"I pretty much made the decision to come home straight away and really didn't explore any other options," McDonald said. "Basketball-wise, it didn't really work out how I had planned and I didn't enjoy that side of it at all."
McDonald said Albury and former state coach Jim Wilson phoned his mother with an offer as soon as he heard about his plight.
He said he had much respect for Wilson and had trained with the Bandits when his father lived in Albury a few years ago.
"It's all been a bit of a bonus for sure," McDonald said.
He said he was looking forward to being able to return to his free-flowing game after Nova coaches restricted him from shooting.
McDonald was an interested observer for the Horsham Hornets hometown clash against Craigieburn on Saturday night.
