Fletcher MacDonald signs NBL27 development contract

Subject to league approval, the 203cm forward returns to Wollongong after four years in the US college system, before he returned to the NBL1 East earlier this year.

MacDonald is the son of Dene MacDonald, a former club captain who played 194 games for us between 1989 and 1997 and still sits 11th on our all-time games played list. He is also, for the past two seasons an assistant to Matt Flinn in Basketball Illawarra's NBL1 East program.

Fletcher is the second son of a former Hawk to make our roster, following Dominique Cooks in 2014/15. In a coincidence nobody engineered, both went to the same small college in Honolulu, Hawaii.

MacDonald played 15 games for Illawarra in the NBL1 East in 2022 before heading to Lubbock Christian University in Texas, then transferring to Chaminade University, where he finished a computer science degree this year.

An undersized Chaminade roster pushed him into the five out of necessity and he stayed there, and by his senior season he was starting 27 games, averaging 9.0 points and 5.7 rebounds in 22.8 minutes, and leading the team in both blocks and field goal percentage at 57.9. Across two seasons there he recorded 49 blocks in 51 games, equal seventh in program history. He also went 8-for-22 from three as a senior after attempting four in his entire career to that point.

Five Weeks After Surgery Back on Court.

MacDonald had been home barely a month when he fractured his scaphoid at a scrimmage, requiring surgery on 11 June. He was back on an NBL1 East floor five weeks later, checking in against Sutherland on 11 July.

In that game, in his first minutes back, he stepped in and took a charge.

At the Illawarra NBL1 program, that is not a small thing. Once a week the group holds an Effort Play presentation, acknowledging the plays that fall outside the statistical categories. Win one and you get a throw at the dartboard for a reward. The man who runs it is Dene MacDonald.

"I took a charge in the Sutherland game, and any charge taken is an automatic EP," MacDonald said. "An EP can be anything that shows effort on the court, even if it doesn't show up on the stat sheet. The team is built around effort and loves making winning plays for one another, so it's a good culture."

Flinn credits Dene with the shift. "He's brought back an old school culture based on the values of making effort plays," he said. "The players love him."

It is the same game Dene played here for nine seasons. His son says most people have no idea.

"He's a pretty humble person, so a lot of people don't really know," MacDonald said. "People who watched the Hawks in the 90s and locals from the Illawarra knew he was a Hawk. He was a tough player who prided himself on the defensive end. Flinny always tells stories to me and the other boys in the NBL1 squad about how physical he was on the court and in practice. There are a few old school videos as well which get posted on the NBL Instagram where I see him in a tussle or two."

A Winter Guarding Sam Froling

The rest of MacDonald's Winter was spent on the hardest daily assignment available to a young Australian big. Sam Froling trained with the NBL1 group rather than playing this winter. MacDonald guarded him.

"Playing against one of the best bigs in the league, I knew there were no possessions off and I had to give 100 per cent effort every single time I had to guard him," he said. "It introduced me to the strength and physicality the league is going to have."

He also came away with a scouting note Hawkheads will like.

"He's developed his shot a lot, so that gave me a lot more to worry about while guarding him. It will be very good for the team, being able to space the floor with him being a threat from behind the arc."

The point guard background, he says, is not something he has left behind.

"Not only does it give you the ability to guard anyone on the court, it instilled the mentality of aiming to make other people look and play better with me. If everyone on the court has that same idea, then it's a recipe for winning."

The Degree

MacDonald graduated with a computer science degree and intends to use it, and he explains the two things feed each other.

"Graduating university helped me maintain and develop the habit of self-discipline," he said. "Keeping a balance between basketball and other hobbies like coding is important, especially mentally. Basketball is a very mentally challenging sport, so keeping that balance helps you perform as well as possible on the court."

What He Brings To NBL27

Length, genuine shot-blocking, a frontcourt body that can slide to the four, and a guard's instinct for making the players around him better.

Asked what Hawkheads should expect and the answer takes one line.

"I am a guy who will always give maximum effort whenever I'm on the floor."

His father would have said the same thing.

That's an Illawarra local back in Hawks colours.

Meet Fletcher this Thursday

Fletcher and the NBL27 Illawarra Hawks are on court this Thursday night, hosting the Saint Mary's Gaels at the Snakepit. Thursday 13th August.

The Western Grandstand has sold out. What is left has just been released: a handful of Hollywood seats, and three boxes of six.

If you miss those, there is some standing room on Court 2 and in the bar.

• Get your ticket now

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