Sam Short returns to the Ballarat Miners

Basketball Ballarat has announced that local favourite Sam Short will return to the Miners for the 2021 NBL1 South Season.

A homegrown local, Short will play between Melbourne United in the NBL and the Ballarat Miners in the NBL1 South for the remainder of the season.

Head Coach Brendan Joyce was thrilled to have such an important player like Short back in Ballarat after an impressive season in 2019.

"Sam had a breakout year in 2019 with the Hotondo Homes Ballarat Miners and we expect him to continue his development into a smart versatile guard that with his length, will also allow him to play multiple positions for us in our system and hopefully lead to an NBL contract for him next year," Joyce said.

"It will be tough at times with him coming in and out due to his commitments with Melbourne United but we would much rather have him playing with us back here at Ballarat."

2021 will continue to challenge all teams in the NBL1 South however for Joyce, embracing the situation and adapting to the situation will only strengthen the teams on and off the court.

"I have said all along that 2021 is a year where everyone must be adaptable due to our experiences with Covid last year and early this year and the unknown of what is ahead," Joyce said.

"Sam knows the Ballarat style of play and how we want the Miners to play and his high IQ and length provides us with the versatility to play him from one to three.

"I am excited to get Sam back into our group ASAP as we have a few new players to continue to build our team chemistry as the season moves along and adapt along the way."

Sam Short joins Zac Dunmore, Jordan Lingard, Daniel Joyce, Matt Kenyon, William Hickey, Ethan Fiegert, Will Hynes, Broden Collins, Deng Acuoth and Jock Perry as announced players on the Ballarat Miners roster.

The Ballarat Miners and Rush will play at the Ballarat Sports Events Centre for the first time this week from 6pm when they host Bendigo.