Dontae Russo-Nance (born 20 January 2005) is a New Zealand professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Manawatu Jets The Manawatu Jets are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Palmerston North. The Jets compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Central Energy Trust Arena. For sponsorship reasons, they ...

of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL). He is also contracted with the

Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Perth Arena, ...

of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played two seasons in the New Zealand NBL in 2021 and 2022 with the Auckland Huskies/Tuatara, earning Youth Player of the Year honours in 2022. After a season in the United States with Oak Hill Academy, he signed with the Wildcats in May 2023.

Early life and career

Russo-Nance was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand. He attended

Saint Kentigern College Saint Kentigern College is a private co-educational Presbyterian secondary school in Auckland, New Zealand. The school is operated by the Saint Kentigern Trust Board. Established in 1953, the college is semi co-educational, with a single-gender ...

and played as a junior for Waitakere Basketball, where he won three national championships across different age groups. In 2019, Russo-Nance played for an Asia Pacific team at the Junior NBA Global Championship in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

. He featured in six games and averaged 15.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists. In

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, Russo-Nance debuted in the New Zealand NBL for the Auckland Huskies. He averaged 11.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game as a bench player, earning runner-up for Youth Player of the Year. In

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, Russo-Nance continued with the Auckland franchise, now known as the Tuatara. He helped the Tuatara reach the New Zealand NBL grand final, where he scored 11 points in an 81–73 loss to the

Otago Nuggets The Otago Nuggets are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Dunedin. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Edgar Centre. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the ...

. In 18 games, he averaged 15.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists and a league-leading 2.9 steals per game. He was subsequently named Youth Player of the Year. In August 2022, Russo-Nance was named to the All-Star Five at the Basketball Without Borders Asia camp in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, Australia. The following month, he moved to the United States to attend Oak Hill Academy in

Mouth of Wilson, Virginia Mouth of Wilson is an unincorporated community, in Grayson County in the U.S. state of Virginia, just north of the North Carolina state line. The community lies in the Blue Ridge Highlands section of the Blue Ridge Mountains which are part of w ...

, for the 2022–23 school year. In February 2023, he competed at the Basketball Without Borders Global camp in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

during the 2023 NBA All-Star weekend.

Professional career

On 27 May 2023, Russo-Nance signed a three-year deal with the

of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL), joining as a development player for the 2023–24 season. A foot injury limited his availability in the middle part of the season and a wrist injury ended his season early. He appeared in three games for the Wildcats in 2023–24, averaging 2.7 points per game. Russo-Nance joined the

for the

2024 New Zealand NBL season The 2024 NBL season was the 43rd season of the National Basketball League. The competition increased to 11 teams in 2024 with the Tauranga Whai joining the league for the first time. The 2024 season saw the return of a pre-season blitz for the ...

. In seven games, he averaged 11.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.0 steals per game. He re-joined the Wildcats as a development player for the

2024–25 NBL season The 2024–25 NBL season was the 47th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested in the 2024–25 season. The league extended its partnership with ESPN Australia. All games are availa ...

, and will then be elevated to the full roster in 2025–26. He joined the

for the

2025 New Zealand NBL season The 2025 NBL season is the 44th season of the National Basketball League. The competition increased to 12 teams in 2025 with the debut of the Indian Panthers, but later decreased to 11 teams in May following the withdrawal of the Panthers. The ...

National team

In July 2025, Russo-Nance was named in his first New Zealand Tall Blacks squad ahead of the

2025 FIBA Asia Cup The 2025 FIBA Asia Cup will be the 31st edition of the FIBA Asia Cup, the continental basketball championship in Asia. The tournament will be organised by FIBA Asia. Saudi Arabia will the host for second time after staging the 1997 edition. It ...

Personal life

Russo-Nance has a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

mother and an African-American father.

References

External links

NBL profileESPN recruiting profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russo-Nance, Dontae 2005 births Living people Auckland Huskies players Auckland Tuatara basketball players Basketball players from Auckland Guards (basketball) Manawatu Jets players New Zealand men's basketball players New Zealand people of African-American descent Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Virginia) alumni Otago Nuggets players People educated at Saint Kentigern College Perth Wildcats players 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen