Junior Madut's impact on and off the court

By Dan Woods for NBL1.com.au

Junior Madut has been a revelation early in this NBL1 East season for Norths Bears, and not just on the court.

Madut’s crowning achievement early this season is undoubtedly the 50-point offensive masterclass he put on against Penrith. Such was the magnitude of his performance against the Panthers that his match-winning 24 points and six assists against Manly-Warringah the night before has been all but forgotten.

The wing’s game-winning antics have been indicative of the type of games you would expect and explosive NBL-quality player to have, but his performances in a Bears uniform have been all the more impressive given he has a reputation as more of a defensive influence when playing professionally.

The 26-year-old doesn’t credit his impressive collegiate career or lessons from his first season as a professional for this incredible offensive output. Rather, the environment that has been created around him at the Bears.

“One of the reasons I came here was to put myself in this position and challenge myself as a player,” Madut told NBL Media.

“Coming into Norths most of my teammates have given me confidence by telling me they want me to shoot these shots, and they want me to play like that. They’ve been backing me and telling me to stay aggressive which has helped me get into that mindset.

“Signing with Norths was a combination of a variety of different reasons, but one of them was definitely being in an environment where I’m supported with my basketball. Just being back home, training with people I used to train with when I was younger, being around family, so it’s just a combination of a lot of different things that have all worked out to be Norths.”

A good environment begets a good environment, and Madut is not only reaping the rewards of the apparent strong culture within the club. He’s been an active contributor to it.

There’s been a marked increase in attendance at Bears games early in the new NBL1 season – and given they were champions of the competition as recently as 2017, it’s not just down to their 5-1 start to the season. A lot of it is down to Madut’s influence on the club as a whole.

“I think giving back any way I can, or in any way that any basketball player can, is ultimately what you want to do as a basketball player,” he reflected.

"Looking back to when I was younger I remember meeting people and having the support of those certain people who gave back.

“If I can do the same, or even just put a smile on a kid’s face – it’s easy and it doesn’t take much from me.

“I’ve gone to a couple of camps already that are even outside of Norths’ and around the Sydney community, and I’m planning on doing some more camps sometime soon. I’ve been going to under-18s practices and watching the Youth League practices. Through my basketball and my basketball knowledge, I’m just doing whatever I can to help."

The Bears are set to face their biggest challenge of the season so far this weekend, as they take on the final undefeated team in the competition – the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence.

The CoE are currently top of the ladder courtesy of their undefeated status, but also boast a mammoth percentage of 145 – largely due to their 73-point dismantling of Penrith. The two sides have already faced off once this season and despite Madut’s 24 points the Bears fell by 46 points after only adding eight points in the entire second quarter.

Newly signed Perth Wildcat Ben Henshall starred for the CoE on that occasion with 29 points, while Jensen Bradke added 21.

“In the last game we started the first quarter pretty well, and then went pretty cold in the second and third,” Madut said.

“We just let it pile up last game. We need to focus on stopping those scoring slumps and defensive slumps quicker and shortening those mistakes. We just have to be consistent throughout the game.”

The Norths Bears have a double-header this weekend, facing CoE tonight and then the Hills Hornets on Saturday. Watch both games live via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App here. 

Feature image via: Discovery One Photography