Matt Kenyon (basketball)

Matthew Dylan Kenyon (born 8 February 1998) is an Australian professional basketball player for the South East Melbourne Phoenix of the National Basketball League (NBL). He debuted in the NBL in 2016 and played two seasons for the Brisbane Bullets before playing a season in the NBA G League. He returned to the NBL in 2021 with the Tasmania JackJumpers.

Matt Kenyon
No. 2 – S.E. Melbourne Phoenix
PositionShooting guard
LeagueNBL
Personal information
Born (1998-02-08) 8 February 1998
Avoca Beach, New South Wales
NationalityAustralian
Listed height196 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Listed weight91 kg (201 lb)
Career information
High schoolHunter Sports
(Newcastle, New South Wales)
NBA draft2019: undrafted
Playing career2016–present
Career history
2016BA Centre of Excellence
2016–2018Brisbane Bullets
2017Sunshine Coast Phoenix
2019Dandenong Rangers
2019–2020Capital City Go-Go
2020South Bay Lakers
2020Central Coast Crusaders
2021Ballarat Miners
2021–2023Tasmania JackJumpers
2022North-West Tasmania Thunder
2023USC Rip City
2023–presentSouth East Melbourne Phoenix
Career highlights and awards

Early life and career

Kenyon was born in Avoca Beach, New South Wales.[1] He played for the Gosford City Rebels as a junior[2] and represented New South Wales multiple times.[3] He attended Hunter Sports High School in Newcastle, New South Wales.[4]

In 2016, Kenyon moved to Canberra to attend the BA Centre of Excellence, where he played for the program's SEABL team.[5] In 16 games, he averaged 10.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.8 steals per game.[6]

Professional career

For the 2016–17 NBL season, Kenyon joined the Brisbane Bullets.[2] He played 17 games in his first season.[7]

For the 2017 QBL season, Kenyon joined the Sunshine Coast Phoenix.[8] He averaged 12.2 points per game[9] and was named the QBL's U23 Player of the Year.[10]

Kenyon returned to the Bullets for the 2017–18 NBL season but was limited to four games.[7] He suffered a dislocated knee towards the end of the season which saw him miss 12 months.[11] He returned to action during the 2019 NBL1 season with the Dandenong Rangers, averaging 11.3 points in 17 games.[12]

For the 2019–20 season, Kenyon moved to the United States, where he completed workouts with the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and Chicago Bulls.[11] On 27 October 2019, Kenyon was drafted by the Capital City Go-Go with the 19th overall pick in the NBA G League Draft and was included in the team's training camp roster.[13] He was waived by the Capital City Go-Go on 22 January 2020, and was subsequently picked up by the South Bay Lakers on 7 February 2020.[14] In 18 games across the two teams, he averaged 1.3 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.[1]

Kenyon returned to Australia and played for the Central Coast Crusaders during the 2020 Waratah League season.[15] In 2021, he played for the Ballarat Miners in the NBL1 South.[16]

For the 2021–22 NBL season, Kenyon joined the inaugural roster of the Tasmania JackJumpers.[17] Following the NBL season, he played for the North-West Tasmania Thunder in the 2022 NBL1 South season.[18]

Kenyon re-joined the JackJumpers for the 2022–23 NBL season.[19] He was ruled out for four-to-six weeks in mid November with a calf injury.[20]

On 2 March 2023, Kenyon signed with the USC Rip City of the NBL1 North.[21] He was named NBL1 North Defensive Player of the Year.[22]

On 17 April 2023, Kenyon signed a two-year deal with the South East Melbourne Phoenix.[23]

National team career

In June 2017, Kenyon was selected in the Australian Emerging Boomers squad for the Summer Universiade in Taipei.[24]

In February 2021, Kenyon was selected to play for Australia in the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualification against New Zealand. Australia won the game 81–52 and Kenyon helped contribute with 6 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists.[25][26][27]

References
  1. "Matt Kenyon G-League Stats". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  2. "Young Gun Joins Bullets Family". BrisbaneBullets.com.au. 27 July 2016. Archived from the original on 1 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  3. "Player statistics for Matthew Kenyon". Australia Junior Championships. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  4. "HUNTER SPORTS HIGH SCHOOL – AUSTRALIAN REPRESENTATIVES" (PDF). Hunter Sports High School. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  5. "2016 Season Preview: BA Centre Of Excellence". SEABL.com.au. 8 March 2016. Archived from the original on 26 March 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  6. "Player statistics for Matthew Kenyon". SEABL. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  7. "Matt Kenyon". RealGM.com. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  8. Taylor, Steele (27 February 2017). "Sunshine Coast Phoenix signs Brisbane Bullets guard". SunshineCoastDaily.com.au. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  9. "Player statistics for Matthew Kenyon". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  10. "2017 QBL Season Award Winners". qbl.basketballqld.com.au. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  11. Uluc, Olgun (27 October 2019). "From dislocated knee to NBA G-League draftee: Matt Kenyon ready to make the most of new opportunity". foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  12. "Matt Kenyon". central.rookieme.com. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  13. Rakusin, Kelly (27 October 2019). "GO-GO ANNOUNCE DRAFT PICKS, TRAINING CAMP ROSTER". NBA.com. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  14. "NBA G League Transactions". gleague.nba.com. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  15. "Player statistics for Matthew Kenyon". Waratah League. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  16. "Miners ink more names to squad | Ballarat". timesnewsgroup.com.au. 4 March 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  17. "JackJumpers Complete Inaugural Roster". NBL.com.au. 17 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  18. "Matt Kenyon". nbl1.com.au. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  19. "Kenyon jumps at second season in Tasmania | NBL". JackJumpers.com.au. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  20. "Two big ins, three outs as JackJumpers hit by injury". JackJumpers.com.au. 17 November 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  21. Dawkins, Greg (2 March 2023). "Jackjumper signs with Rip City". uscbasketball.com.au. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  22. "Defensive Player of the Year". facebook.com/basketballqld. 17 July 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  23. "Matt Kenyon Signs with the Phoenix for Two Years". semphoenix.com.au. 17 April 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  24. "NBL YOUNG GUNS NAMED IN EMERGING BOOMERS TEAM". NBL.com.au. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  25. "Dyson Daniels shines with talents aplenty in Boomers revenge win over Tall Blacks". FIBA.Basketball. 20 February 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  26. "New Zealand v Australia boxscore". FIBA.Basketball. 20 February 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  27. "Kenyon pivotal in Boomers win". Coast Community News. 26 February 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
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