The National Basketball League announced on Sunday awards for the league, including naming LaMelo Ball of the Illawarra Hawks the Rookie of the Year.
Ball beat out fellow Next Star RJ Hampton as well as nominees Kouat Noi and Angus Glover to earn the award. Ball finished with 49 votes, Noi was second with 44 and Hampton was third with 23 votes.
This season for Illawarra, Ball averaged 17.0 points, 7.6 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game for the Illawarra Hawks. Ball had plenty of memorable on-court and off-court accomplishments in his time in the league, helping set viewership and attendance records while becoming the youngest player to record a triple-double then becoming the first player in the modern era of the league with back-to-back triple-doubles.
Bryce Cotton earned the Most Valuable Player honors on the season, averaging a league-best 22.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists a game. Cotton also earned a spot on the All-NBL First Team along with Jae’Sean Tate, Nick Kay, Scott Machado and Lamar Patterson.
