New signing Sobey confirms he’ll co-captain South East Melbourne Phoenix for NBL25

In an SEN exclusive, newly signed guard Nathan Sobey has announced he’ll be a co-captain alongisde Jordan Hunter for the South East Melbourne Phoenix in the 2024/25 season.

Prior to his incredible career within the NBL, the 33-year-old played four years at college level with two years at Cochise College and another two at the University of Wyoming. With 11 seasons and 262 NBL games under his belt, Sobey played with Cairns Taipans, Adelaide 36ers and the Brisbane Bullets.

His career has seen milestone highs after receiving an All-NBL First Team honours in NBL21, three nominations in the All-NBL Second Team and represented the Australian Boomers in the Bronze medal winning match at 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

His one-year sign on deal with the Phoenix will be the first team he’s played for in his home state Victoria since leaving for college. Stoked with the new deal, Sobey opens up about his plans to playing a positive role as captain in hopes of leading the team to a successful season ahead.

“It’s definitely a great feeling”, Sobey said on SEN Breakfast.

“Obviously coming into a new team, you never know how it’s going to pan out, especially in the early days. Sometimes it takes a little bit longer but definitely honoured to be able to represent the club and lead us in that sort of aspect.

“I think it’s about building relationships when you’re getting into new environments and getting to know people on a different level. Also leading by example when we hit the floor as well, so just trying to do that sort of stuff and get us in the right stead to be ready to go opening round.

“There’s always a lot of moving parts and all that sort of stuff and professional sports will kind of change pretty quick. I’m moving home, from Victora originally, so it’s definitely been a great deal to get back to being around family and friends. This will be the first time I’ve been back since I left to go to college a long time ago.

“I definitely think we’ve got a huge ceiling. We’re definitely nowhere near that at the moment, we’re continuing to build to what we think is the direction we need to be. That’s what this week at the Blitz’s is really good for because we’re introducing a few new players, a few American’s we haven’t played with yet as well.

“There’s a lot of moving parts to it right now but we’re continuing to build, and I think we’ve got a very good and talented team with a lot of guys who have won championships in the NBL. We’ve got a lot guys who know how to win in this league and then we’ve also got a great bunch of youth as well, so we’ve got a great mix. I think once we have all these games and put some time together we’re going to be pretty good.”

With the NBL Queensland Blitz underway, Sobey is set to debut for the South East Melbourne Phoenix in Round 1 against the Perth Wildcats on Friday 20 September at 8:30pm (AEST).