Matthew Adekponya

Matthew Adekponya (born 9th June 1990) is an Australian professional basketball player and filmmaker. He plays for Mackay Meteors of the NBL1 North as a professional basketball player.[1] He previously played for Cairns Taipans between 2011 and 2013, Barcelos Hotel Terco, Nidaros Jets, Team FOG Naestved, Mahameru Indonesia, Gold Coast Rollers.

Matthew Adekponya
Mackay Meteors
PositionPoint Guard
LeagueNBL1 North
Personal information
Born (1990-06-09) June 9, 1990
Perth, Australia
NationalityGhanaian Australians
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Career information
Playing career2011–present
Career history
2011–2013Cairns Taipans
2013-2014Mackay Meteors
2013-2014Barcelos Hotel Terco
2013–2014Depiro Basketball Club
2014Townsville Crocodiles
2014-2015Nidaros Jets
2015Mackay Meteors
2016Geraldton Buccaneers
2016Grand Rapids Drive
2016-2017Team FOG Naestved
2017-2017Perry Lakes Hawks
2018Mahameru Indonesia
2018Gold Coast Rollers
2021–presentMackay Meteors

He has directed and produced two documentaries, RISE — A PNG Basketball Story in 2017 and Building Titans in 2021.

Early life

Adekponya was born on June 9, 1990 in Perth, Western Australia.[2]

Basketball career

(2011–2015)

Adekponya started his professional basketball career in 2011 for Cairns Taipans in the NBL where he played until 2013.[3] Three years later, he joined Mackay Meteors of the NBL1 North for the season and even won the MVP NBL1 2013 and Best Defensive Player NBL1 2014 awards.[3] In this span, he also played for Obradoiro Spain, Barcelos Hotel Terco, Depiro Basketball Club, and Mackay Meteors.[4][5] In 2014, after getting trained at Townsville Crocodiles, Adekponya played for the Nidaros Jets in the Basketball League Norway, where he received All-League First team and the club's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.[6][7][8] In 2015, he rejoined Mackay Meteors for the third season and helped them win the 2015 Queensland Basketball League season final.[9][8]

(2016–2020)

In 2016, Adekponya joined Geraldton Buccaneers as a guard in the 2016 MSBL season where he was honored with All-NBL1 West First Team,[10] and he also played for the Grand Rapids Drive same year in the NBA G League.[11] By the end of 2016, Adekponya started playing for Team FOG Naestved and then for Mahameru Indonesia.[12][13] He signed in to play for Perry Lakes Hawks in 2017 MSBL season where he won MVP.[14][15] In 2018 he joined Gold Coast Rollers.[16]

Return to Mackay Meteors (2021–present)

In May 2021, Adekponya returned to the Mackay Meteors for the 2021 NBL1 North season to play for a short term, replacing injured player Kye Medhurst.[17] The Meteors defeated the Cairns Marlins 2–0 to win the championship.[18][19]

Filmmaking career

Adekponya produced and directed his first feature documentary RISE — A PNG Basketball Story in 2017, which follows Papua New Guinea men's national basketball team through 2017 FIBA Melanesia Basketball Cup.[20][21] In 2021, he produced-director a four-parts documentary series Building Titans featuring the NRL's Gold Coast Titans' insights how they work under coach Justin Holbrook.[22][23] It aired aired on Fox League, Kayo Sports, and 9Go!.[24]

Adekponya, in 2019, became a content creator for Illawarra Hawks (NBL).[25] As of 2021, he is also working with NBA athletes Patty Mills and Aron Baynes.[26][27][28]

Awards
  • 2013 Mackay Meteors MVP NBL1
  • 2014 Mackay Meteors Best Defensive Player NBL1
  • Norway 2015 League leading scorer, All-Import First team, All-League First team[29]
  • 2016 All-NBL1 West First Team[30]
  • 2017 Perry Lakes Hawks MVP NBL1
  • 2019 NBL Media Award for Illawarra Hawks[31]

Personal life

Adekponya has a sister named Rachel, who is married to NBA star Aron Baynes.[32]

References
  1. "Matthew Adekponya Player Profile, Mackay Meteors, News, Stats - australiabasket". Australia men's national basketball team. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  2. "Matthew Adekponya Player Profile, Team FOG Naestved, International Stats, Game Logs, Awards". basketball.realgm.com. RealGM. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  3. "Adekponya sets sights on future". The Courier-Mail. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  4. readOctober 25, Rmcnicolless than 2 min (24 October 2013). "Meteor's European dream comes true in Portugal". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  5. "Depiro finish at the top - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt. 8 March 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  6. "Basketball News, Scores, Stats, Analysis, Standings". www.eurobasket.com. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  7. readAugust 27, less than 2 min (26 August 2014). "Matt Adekponya packing winter woollies ready for Norway". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  8. "Adekponya back for third season with Meteors". The Courier-Mail. 17 April 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  9. "Basketball Queensland: Mackay Meteors Secure 2015 Men's QBL Championship". 16 September 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-09-16. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  10. Woodley, Matthew (6 May 2016). "Adekponya filling stat sheet for Buccs". The West Australian. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  11. J. Wallner, Peter (31 October 2016). "Meet Grand Rapids Drive's six selections from NBA D-League draft". Booth Newspapers. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  12. Coast basketball pair bringing the love to the court
  13. Davis, Samuel (30 November 2017). "Volcano's ash cloud grounds ex-Taipan". The Cairns Post. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  14. "Hawks Sign All-Star Adekponya - WA State Basketball League". GameDay. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  15. "Hawks Award Winners". Perry Lakes Hawks. 11 September 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  16. "Future's looking reel bright for Adekponya". Herald Sun. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  17. "Meteor Matt Returns To Help Out Mates". Mackay Basketball. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  18. "NBL1 North Men's Championship Series Game 1 Recap". nbl1.com.au. 11 September 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  19. "NBL1 North Men's Championship Series Game 2 Recap". nbl1.com.au. 11 September 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  20. Wivell, Danaella (27 October 2017). "Cairns basketballer Matthew Adekponya releases first documentary". The Cairns Post. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  21. "RISE - A PNG Basketball Story". FIBA. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  22. "Building Titans 2021 Building Titans, Watch TV Online". 9Now. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  23. Williams, Matthew. "An in-depth look at "Australian sports train wreck": Building Titans review". nowuc.com.au. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  24. Wenzel, Murray (12 May 2021). "Deep-dive sports docos here to stay: Watt". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  25. "Hawks Win NBL Media Award". www.hawks.com.au. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  26. Stein, Marc (31 July 2020). "'The Better I Got in Sports, the Worse the Racism Got'". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  27. "Patty Mills: The Green (and Gold) Machine". Rolling Stone Australia. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  28. Jackson, Vintage (26 March 2021). "Behind the lens with Matt Adekponya - athlete, creator and potential game-changer in the sports media space". YKTR The Mag. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  29. "Historikk BLNO M". www.basket.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  30. "MSBL All-Star Starters - WA State Basketball League". GameDay. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  31. "National Basketball League | NBL". nbl.com.au. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  32. "Facts About Aron Baynes' Wife Rachel Adekponya. Any Children Yet?". ecelebritymirror. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.