Illawarra Hawks sign Johny Narkle as development player

Image Credit: @ArcticMoonPhotography

Johny Narkle’s hard work and continual improvement have finally paid off, as the Geraldton Buccaneers wing has signed with the Illawarra Hawks as a development player.

This comes off the back of an outstanding season in NBL1 West, where Narkle averaged 23.2 points, 4.9 assists and 7.7 rebounds per game, as well as 1.6 blocks and 2.1 steals on the defensive end.

Narkle recently capped off his season by winning the NBL1 West Men’s Youth Player of the Year award, and earning a place in the Men’s All NBL1 West First Team alongside fellow NBL counterparts Isaac White and Elijah Pepper.

The young star’s glittering form has also been a big contributor to Geraldton’s second-placed finish in the West, as they look to return to the NBL1 National Finals once again.

By far the highlight of his season to date, Narkle dropped a massive 53 points, along with seven rebounds and three assists in Geraldton’s dominant Round 12 win over Goldfields.

Performances like these are an indicator of the damage that an in-form Narkle can cause, and what he will bring as he continues to develop in the Hawks system.

Narkle made his debut with the powerful Buccaneers back in the Covid impacted season of 2020 but it was once he fully committed to basketball in 2022 that his game has continued to thrive.

He would end up starring in Geraldton's NBL1 West championship triumph of 2023 where he was named Grand Final MVP in the win against the Joondalup Wolves.

Following that, he starred in the two games for the Buccs at the NBL1 National Finals and has continued to go from strength to strength from there with a standout 2024 season, and now the best season of his career in 2025.

He also represented the Indigenous Basketball Australia All Stars last month in Melbourne and now will be focused on trying to win another championship with Geraldton this month as part of a team entering the NBL1 West finals on an 11-game winning streak having won those by an average of 28 points while scoring almost 114 points a game.

Check out the highlights from that 53-point performance below:

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