The Perth Wildcats have added depth and youth to its extended roster, signing Australian young gun Kyle Zunic as a development player for the next two seasons.
Zunic is a versatile combo guard who recently played his senior year at Winthrop University in the United States, helping take the Division One school to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.
The 22-year-old is excited to begin his professional basketball journey at the Wildcats.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to be a pro, and to be able to start my career at a place like Perth is an unreal feeling,” said Zunic.
“I grew up watching the Wildcats be so elite in the NBL and to be able to play for such a successful organisation is a dream come true.
“After speaking to Danny (Mills) and Scott (Morrison) and seeing how committed they are to winning, there was no better option to head out west. It will be such a great opportunity to continue to develop my game.”
Zunic, who stands 188cm and weighs 91kg, has represented Australia at the junior level and at the World University Games in 2019
Perth Wildcats General manager of basketball operations, Danny Mills, said it’s a coup to get the sought-after guard to Perth.
“I’ve watched him for a long time and, when I joined the club, he was highlighted as a guy we wanted to recruit. We feel like he has a bright future in the NBL and are confident that over the long term he will become an important roster player for us,” said Mills.
“Kyle has a Damian Martin type mentality, he’s a defensive-minded guard, someone that can come in and be disruptive on that end and make a shot on the other.
“He’s coming into a perfect situation where he has Mitch Norton, an established starting guard, and Kevin White, a veteran who’s also from the Illawarra region, as mentors. So he’ll be in a really good spot to develop.”
At college, Zunic averaged 6.5 points, 1.6 assists and 2.9 rebounds while picking up 73 steals over four years for the Winthrop Eagles.
He led the NCAA in charges-taken and incredibly won 42 of his last 47 games.
“Kyle is a winning basketball player and brings a very successful history not only at the various levels of Australian basketball he has competed in but also at Winthrop, where he was a part of one of the winningest US College programs in recent years,” said Perth Wildcats head coach Scott Morrison.
“He makes good decisions on the offensive end and bring a competitive energy on defense that will fit in well with our returning backcourt and team mindset.
“We will definitely expect Kyle to compete for minutes with the rest of our backcourt. It is a long season with opportunities for everyone on the roster.”
Zunic is currently representing the University of Sunshine Coast in the NBL1 North competition, with his team takin Mackay in the semi-finals this weekend.
Over 11 games, he’s averaging 13.7 points, 4.9 assists and 1.2 steals.
Kyle Zunic joins Corey Shervill as signed Perth Wildcats development players for 2021/22.