The Hobart Chargers have announced that JackJumpers guard Sam McDaniel will be joining the NBL1 outfit for the remaining of the season.
The news of McDaniel joining the Chargers, comes a week after fellow JackJumper Jarred Bairstow joined the team.
For Sam McDaniel, who had played for the Sandringham in NBL1 in 2019, playing locally was a big drawcard with the Chargers.
“Obviously staying in Tassie was a big deal for me, having a multiyear deal with the JackJumpers,” McDaniel said.
“To come to the Chargers under Stewie [Anthony Stewart] and into a great team is important for me and important for my family and super excited to be part of it.”
Embed from Getty ImagesChargers coach Anthony Stewart is excited to have another JackJumper join the club and strengthen the pathways for Tasmanian players.
“To come back and play at this level and support our club is really important for the community and shows exactly what sort of person he is as well. Just another step at bridging that Chargers JackJumpers partnership and a really exciting time for us and basketball in the south,” Stewart said.
“He’s got everything the team needs he’s a defensive specialist at NBL level but what we’re probably excited about is opening the green light for him to take the game on offensively and really free him up and work on probably some of his challenges at NBL level.
“I look at the Illawarra game, when he played up in Wollongong and had 20 odd points at halftime. I’d like to see that in NBL1 every week.
“I love coaching and putting points on the board, I want to change his mindset, he’s not out there as a role player, he’s out there to lead this team.”
Embed from Getty ImagesMcDaniel added directly do Chargers lineup
The Chargers are currently 4-3 and welcome McDaniel straight into the lineup this weekend. The Chargers will play the Casey Cavaliers who also have an injection of players recently. Headlined by former NBA player Mangok Mathiang who debuted for Casey last week. Mathiang is on the basketball comeback after a leg injury injury in 2020 and limited opportunities to play across the COVID pandemic.
Casey also have added JackJumpers development player Jock Perry to their roster. Perry is yet to play a game with Casey this season, and it is unconfirmed at this stage whether he’ll be part of the Tasmanian road trip.
McDaniel will likely start in the shooting guard role and take significant scoring pressure off import guard AJ Harris. The Chargers have become an interior dominant team with Harry Froling and Ole Angerstein post-up play. Without a huge list of outside shooters the Chargers have been somewhat predictable with their offensive play, particularly at the end of close games when they need point. McDaniel should help them spread the floor with his strong mid-range and outside shooting.
Jarred Bairstow is still a few weeks away from debuting with the Chargers. His strengths is on the defensive end and should provide huge held defence to the other bigs. McDaniel also is an elite defensive player, and will likely have the the job of locking down the top scoring NBL1 guards each night.
JackJumpers in NBL1
McDaniel is the 9th JackJumper to commit to an NBL1 team, the full list is below
Will Magnay – Gold Coast Rollers (NBL1 North)
Jack McVeigh – North Gold Coast Seahawks (NBL1 North)
Jock Perry – Casey Cavaliers (NBL1 South)
Serj Deans – North West Tasmania Thunder (NBL1 South)
Sean MacDonald – North West Tasmania Thunder (NBL1 South)
Fabian Krslovic – North West Tasmania Thunder (NBL1 South)
Matt Kenyon – North West Tasmania Thunder (NBL1 South)
Jarred Bairstow – Hobart Chargers (NBL1 South)
Sam McDaniel – Hobart Chargers (NBL1 South)
