Having ticked off an NBL1 Central championship at the West Adelaide Bearcats, Nik DeSantis wanted another crack interstate and has been blown away with what he's become part of in NBL1 West at the Geraldton Buccaneers.
DeSantis is a proud South Australian and the outstanding all-round point guard knew that he wanted to experience playing in as many places as he could during his playing career.
However, his first attempt to play outside of South Australia in the NBL1 South with the Mount Gambier Pioneers proved disastrous firstly with COVID ruining the 2020 season and then a knee injury ruining his 2021 campaign.
That saw him want to refocus on getting back to West Adelaide and he had a brilliant 2022 NBL1 Central season but it was team success he was craving. He got to live out the dream of being part of the 2023 championship.
That had him feeling ready for a new challenge and ironically it was a chance message from Geraldton Buccaneers legend and championship winning captain Mat Wundenberg that got the ball rolling for him to make the move to Geraldton.
DeSantis has never looked back since and had a brilliant individual season where he proved himself a standout all-round guard who could score, facilitate, run an offence, defend and do everything at a high and efficient level.
He was a key part of the Buccaneers finishing four games clear on top of the table at the end of the regular season before then winning a high-quality qualifying final last Saturday night against the Mandurah Magic.
Now the task ahead of DeSantis is taking on the Willetton Tigers at a sold out Active West Stadium this Saturday night in the preliminary final with a spot in the Grand Final at RAC Arena next Saturday on the line.
Trying to stop a red hot Marshall Nelson
DeSantis wasn’t sure what to think as he watched on Thursday night with Marshall Nelson on his way to 48 points as he lifted Willetton to a win over the Rockingham Flames to set up a meeting with the Buccs this Saturday.
While DeSantis won't have the job of guarding Nelson on his own with Johny Narkle, Josh Braun and Junior Garbrah all spending time on him too, he hopes that the Tigers superstar and two-time championship winner might have tired himself out a little.
"There's a few things that go through your mind and the first one is that I just hope he's super tired after playing such a rigorous game, and he might be off his game for us a little bit," DeSantis said.
"But Marshall Nelson is someone that I've kept up to date with since I played against him at nationals, and obviously he's a super dangerous player. When you have games like he just did, it definitely heightens your senses a bit so you'll make sure you're even more on your toes when you come up against him."
Willetton an unfamiliar opponent
DeSantis made his NBL1 West debut for the Buccaneers back in the opening game of the season at home to Willetton on what was a memorable night with the raising of the 2023 championship banner and celebrating the 500th game of Wundenberg.
However, the two teams haven’t met since so for DeSantis it's a lot of walking into the unknown going into Saturday night's preliminary final against the Tigers.
"It definitely is that little bit of a grey area for both our teams coming up against each other obviously having only played in that first game of the season," DeSantis said.
"Back then your teams haven't gelled together yet and everyone is still learning themselves, but now at this point of the season it's do-or-die when we match up again and it's basically about going in with no real idea what to expect when we come up against each other. That can be fun at the same time."
Embracing the challenge of moving states
DeSantis is having a standout season with the Buccaneers this year and that saw him named to the All Second Team, but he could consider himself mighty unlucky not to have reached the First Team with everything he has provided on a team that finished four games clear in top spot.
He had always wanted to try playing outside of South Australia and while circumstances conspired against him in his first attempt at the Mount Gambier Pioneers, he built his confidence back at West Adelaide and backed himself to make a good go of it with the Buccs in the NBL1 West.
"To be honest I'm not that surprised because I did have confidence in my ability. The year before I went back to Adelaide I had signed at Mount Gambier so I was prepping to play NBL1 South and in that first year it was the start of COVID," DeSantis said.
"So the season cancelled and then the following year was when I tore my ACL just before the season but I always felt I always had the ability to play in other states, but being at home in Adelaide it just felt right to back to West.
"My goal was always to play in as many places as I could within Australia because it's one of the better places in the world to play basketball.
"Then with the resurgence with how big NBL1 has gotten over the years, that's only going to help it keep growing and I'm happy to be part of it as much as I can."
Feeling of accomplishment at home
After those two tough years in 2020 and 2021, DeSantis firstly set himself to playing at a high level which he did in 2022 at West Adelaide and then he wanted team success which he experienced with the NBL1 Central championship in 2023.
That had him ready to embrace a new challenge in another part of Australia.
"My junior club was West Adelaide and my goal there was to obviously win a championship," DeSantis said.
"Previous to signing there, the year before was my first one back and I had torn my ACL so I was questioning what I was going to do with my basketball.
"So that first year back at West, my goal was to just have the best individual year that I could and I did, but it kind of fell short because I wanted to win a championship more than anything.
"Then we did that last year and that's when I felt that sense of accomplishment, and I thought it was a good time to potentially see if there was a next challenge. It just so happened that I got approached by the Buccs and now here I am."
Bearcats championship team last year
As for that championship team last year with the Bearcats, playing on a team featuring NBL trio Mitch McCarron, Anthony Drmic and Lachlan Olbrich was an experience DeSantis will always treasure.
"That would have to be one of the best teams that I have been a part of obviously with Mitch, Drm and Lachy," he said.
"Even though Lachy is still a younger NBL player, but just having their experience and competitive edge, and their leadership as well, was something that is hard to understand unless you're involved to see it firsthand.
"Just the confidence they bring to the rest of the team and the entire club is something that's impossible to measure, and at West last year it felt like we had a deeper fan base because of the connection they had to those guys. It was fantastic the entire experience."
Being a guard that can do it all
You look at DeSantis' numbers in 2024 and they are outstanding in all areas. He is averaging 20.1 points, 5.5 assists, 4.1 rebounds and shooting at 53 per cent from the field, 47 per cent from three-point range and 79 per cent at the foul line.
His game isn’t just about the numbers though. He makes his teammates better all around him, he is a strong defender and he takes great pride in the way he can impact a game in so many different facets.
"I would say one of my key traits is that I'm a jack of all trades in terms of a guard. I can handle, I can shoot, I can finish, I can pass and this year is actually the first time in a while that I've strictly run point guard," DeSantis said.
"I have kinda been brought up over the years as a shooting guard of some sort, but I think that responsibility this year having the responsibility as a point guard with the pressure of running the offence has helped me develop my game in other aspects which has been good.
"I also like to pride myself on my efficiency and I know especially with the team we have this year, we have so many guys that can put up 30 points in any game.
"So it's just about as the point guard knowing when someone's hot, when I have to pass up my shot to get it to them and all those little aspects of the game that's part of what I think I do pretty well in."
Goals still ahead for career
If you look at the three years of basketball that DeSantis has put together since his knee reconstruction and there's not many other Australian basketballers in the country who have performed as well as him as an all-round guard.
He can do it all at an impressive and efficient level and wouldn’t look out of place earning an NBL opportunity, but he knows all he can do is continue to work hard and perform, and see what pops up.
"Ultimately playing professional basketball has been the dream and every kid's dream when they start is to play NBA," DeSantis said.
"Then when that is quickly diminished, you have the NBL to aim for but I haven’t had any direct interest. I've had some teams reach out but nothing too concrete.
"I also think as you start to get older and especially after the knee injury and such a depriving experience with that, you just kinda learn to go with the flow.
"It's not like you don’t care, but you understand all you can do is work your arse and be ready if something happens and be content knowing you gave it the best crack that you could."
Feeling coming into cut-throat final
DeSantis is just feeling excited now as the preliminary final against Willetton gets closer with the knowledge that there will be a rabid home crowd behind the Buccs in Geraldton on Saturday night.
"Generally this year I just kind of take it day by day, and by the time we get to Saturday and once we go through shootaround and it gets closer to game time then those nerves start to kick in a little bit," DeSantis said.
"But once we get through our normal pre-game routines and warm ups and everything it generally subsides especially with our home crowd in Geraldton.
"I think that plays a huge valuable environment for us considering how rowdy and crazy it does get in the stadium. That settles our nerves knowing that we have that crowd behind us."
Unique Geraldton environment for Buccs
DeSantis had previously heard about what the home court experience was like in Geraldton and when Wundenberg initially reached out to him about potentially joining the Buccs, that was a big part of the selling point.
At the same time, DeSantis still didn’t fully believe it was everything everyone made it out to be.
However, from that first game against Willetton and every home game since, he has continued to be blown away with the experience of having a whole town get behind their team, and provide what could well be the most unique home court advantage for any club right across the country in the NBL1.
"Obviously having played at numerous places around Australia already, you hear things about the Buccs being crazy but you just brush it off a bit," DeSantis said.
"But when you're actually here and you see every single home game no matter who we're playing that we still have a thousand people coming out.
"You might not even get a couple of hundred people to a Sunday game in Perth at times, but in Gero there's no such thing and it doesn’t matter who we play or when we play.
"The community just gets so much behind the team and I guess being that regional town, we have such a strong place in the community.
"We always have kids that we have coming to camps or that we run clinics with wanting to come watch us play, and keeping that community aspect of it really helps to keep on putting those butts in seats."
What might lie ahead
Playing cut-throat finals is always a strange feeling because of the finality of everything and depending on what happens on Saturday night, things can quickly go in either direction for DeSantis.
His partner, Holly Forbes, is currently with him in Geraldton after her NBL1 Central season at the Woodville Warriors, so a loss on Saturday night will mean the couple get to spend more time together having lived most of 2024 apart.
However, on a basketball front for DeSantis and the Buccs, a win on Saturday night will lead to a first ever NBL1 West Grand Final at RAC Arena a week later and win that, and it's a trip to the Sunshine Coast for the National Finals.
DeSantis isn’t thinking beyond Saturday night, though, and if he even tried to, his coach Dayle Joseph and teammates like Mat Wundenberg and Aaron Ralph would quickly snap him out of it.
"I haven't really thought that deep into it about how big Saturday night is. It's a bit surreal knowing that this one game will be a deciding factor in what happens from there, but I haven’t put too much through into it," DeSantis said.
"A big thing with our team this year is that we have been taking it game by game, and day by day, and don't think past that. So we are just focused on trying to get the job done on Saturday night and then we go from there.
"Dayle, our coach, once playoffs got nearer we had a number of days left up on the whiteboard until the Grand Final. After every training session and game, the days would get crossed off and he would remind us that we're working towards day one.
"We're not skipping days, we're working towards day one and that's what the motto has been with the group."
