“This is huge.”
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There’s no other way for Orange Eagles representative coordinator Craig Harvey to explain the impact the launch of a senior men’s representative side on basketball in the city.
After the Eagles nearly doubled their participation numbers over the past two years, the Orange Basketball Association was given the all-clear from Basketball NSW to take the next step and provide top-level talent the chance to ply their trade in the 2019 State League.
Orange’s best have had to play in Bathurst with the Goldminers to have a chance to compete in the state-wide competition, but for the first time in over three decades they will be able to light up their home court.
“It’s been 30 or 40 years since something like this has happened in Orange,” he said.
The move means the Dubbo Rams will have a new opponent next year, with Bathurst and Lithgow previously being the only other sides from the western area contesting the competition.
Harvey said former NBL player Mitch Selwood should play a key role by donning an Eagles top in 2019, and he also expects five or six Goldminers players based in Orange to make the switch back home.
That includes the possibility of Matt Gray lining up for Orange instead of Bathurst on the college prodigy’s breaks from Drake University after spending much of his junior career with the Goldminers.
“I haven’t spoken to Matt directly, I’ll get in touch with his dad and hopefully we’ll be able to see him play for us,” Harvey said.