Tom Carroll: From the Netherlands to Ringwood

Feature image via: Xavier Papadakos 

Coming off an impressive 17 point and 11 rebound performance against the defending champion Eltham Wildcats, young gun Tom Carroll is set for a massive campaign in 2025. 

The Ringwood Hawks forward had an impressive debut season last year and now starts alongside star import Jonathan Lawton and NBL player Tanner Krebs. 

At the NBL1 South Blitz, Carroll explained what his goals were for 2025. 

“Just to win. we've got some new guys coming in, we've still got the core group that we had last year, but bringing back some more experienced guys who have played at the club,” he said.

“Even the pre-season games, it's already just showing to just steady us where we need to be steadied. Improve upon last year and really come together as a group as the season's going on.” 

What you may not know about Carroll is that he actually has played for the Dutch national team. With his grandparents and mother all hailing from the Netherlands, Carroll was eligible for the team and made contact with the program.

“It was the year of COVID, I reached out to one of the under-16 coaches at the time and then was in touch with him,” he said.

“The 2022 European Championships that year got canned, but then in 2022, the new coach of the under-20s team reached out to me and then one thing led to another. FaceTime calls, Zoom calls, and then I was over there.” 

Carroll played in two U20 European Championship tournaments (2022, 2023 Division B), giving him an extremely unique and high-level experience early in his career. Having also represented Victoria in the Australian U20 Championships, Carroll is on pace for a successful career at only 21 years old.

The Ringwood Hawks will host the last game of Round 2 against the Frankston Blues, watch the double-header live from 6:00pm AEST live and free via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App.