Kyle Luke Zunic (born 4 March 1999) is an Australian 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 Keilor Thunder of the

NBL1 South NBL1 South is a semi-professional basketball league in Victoria (state), Victoria and Tasmania, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2019, Basketball Victoria partnered with the National Basketball League (Australia), ...

. He played four seasons of

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

in the United States for the

Winthrop Eagles The Winthrop Eagles are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent Winthrop University, located in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Winthrop's 17 men's and women's teams compete at the National Collegiate ...

before joining 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) in 2021.

Early life and career

Zunic was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, in the southern suburb of

Kogarah Kogarah () is a suburb of Southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Kogarah is located 14 kilometres (9 miles) south-west of the Sydney central business district and is considered to be the centre of the St George area. Loc ...

. His family later moved to Sanctuary Point, where he attended Sanctuary Point Public School. Around 10 and 11 years old, he played

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

. He started playing basketball in

Shellharbour Shellharbour (also known as Shellharbour Village) is a suburb located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It also gives its name to the local government area, City of Shellharbour, and its central business district, Shellha ...

before moving to

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

to play representative basketball for the

Illawarra Hawks The Illawarra Hawks (formerly the Wollongong Hawks and The Hawks) are an Australian professional basketball team based in Wollongong, New South Wales. The Illawarra Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home game ...

. He played for NSW Country at national tournaments. Zunic moved to

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 ...

to attend the

Basketball Australia Basketball Australia (BA), officially registered as BA Limited, is the governing body for basketball in Australia. Established in 1939, BA is a not-for-profit organisation responsible for overseeing basketball at all levels in Australia. B ...

Centre of Excellence and Lake Ginninderra College. He played for the Centre of Excellence in the

South East Australian Basketball League The South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) was a semi-professional basketball league in Australia comprising both a men's and women's competition. The SEABL began in 1981 and operated for 38 seasons until it was disbanded in 2018. The ...

(SEABL) in 2016 and 2017. He averaged 8.0 points in his first season and 16.3 points in the second season.

College career

In April 2017, Zunic signed a

National Letter of Intent The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a document used to indicate a student athlete's commitment to participating in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) colleges and universities in the United States. The NCAA Eligibility Center manag ...

to play

for

Winthrop University Winthrop University is a public university in Rock Hill, South Carolina. It was founded in 1886 by David Bancroft Johnson, who served as the superintendent of Columbia, South Carolina schools. He received a grant from Robert Charles Winthrop, a ...

in the United States. As a freshman for the

in 2017–18, Zunic played 26 games with nine starts and averaged 6.8 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 18.8 minutes per game. He missed games with injuries to his ankles and appendix issues. As a sophomore in 2018–19, Zunic averaged career highs in points (8.6), rebounds (4.3), assists (1.9) and minutes (21.8). He played 30 games and made 18 starts. On 20 December 2018, he had a career-high 21 points and 10 rebounds against

UMES University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) is a public historically black land-grant research university in Princess Anne, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland. It is classified among "Research Colleges and Universities" ...

. As a junior in 2019–20, Zunic was named to the

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), ...

All-Academic Team and helped the Eagles win the Big South Conference tournament. He played 32 games with seven starts and averaged 5.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 18.7 minutes per game. He became the 24th player in program history to hit 100 career 3-pointers. As a senior in 2020–21, Zunic was again named to the Big South Conference All-Academic Team and helped the Eagles win the Big South Conference tournament for the second year in a row. He played 25 games with a career-high 24 starts and averaged 5.0 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 19.6 minutes per game.

College statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", Winthrop , 26 , , 9 , , 18.8 , , .428 , , .372 , , .759 , , 1.3 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , .1 , , 6.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Winthrop , 30 , , 18 , , 21.8 , , .405 , , .324 , , .667 , , 4.3 , , 1.9 , , .7 , , .2 , , 8.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;", Winthrop , 32 , , 7 , , 18.7 , , .393 , , .309 , , .759 , , 3.0 , , 1.9 , , .5 , , .1 , , 5.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;", Winthrop , 25 , , 24 , , 19.6 , , .359 , , .341 , , .609 , , 2.6 , , 1.4 , , .8 , , .1 , , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 113 , , 58 , , 19.7 , , .399 , , .335 , , .705 , , 2.9 , , 1.6 , , .6 , , .1 , , 6.5 , -

Professional career

In June 2021, Zunic joined the USC Rip City of the

NBL1 North NBL1 North, formerly the Queensland Basketball League (QBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Queensland and Northern Territory, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Queensland partnered wit ...

. In 12 games, he averaged 12.91 points, 6.33 rebounds, 5.08 assists and 1.16 steals per game. On 6 September 2021, Zunic signed with the

of the National Basketball League (NBL) as a development player for the 2021–22 season. He made his NBL debut on 3 December 2021, scoring two points in 17½ minutes as a starter in the Wildcats' 85–73 season-opening win over the

Adelaide 36ers The Adelaide 36ers are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in the state's capital of Adela ...

. He became the first development player in NBL history to earn a start in his debut. In 16 games, he averaged 1.7 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. Zunic joined the Warwick Senators for the 2022 NBL1 West season. In 18 games, he averaged 17.78 points, 4.78 rebounds, 4.28 assists and 1.56 steals per game. On 24 May 2022, Zunic was elevated to the Wildcats' main roster on a two-year deal. He appeared in 14 games during the

2022–23 NBL season The 2022–23 NBL season was the 45th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested in the 2022–23 season. Australian broadcast rights to the season are held by ESPN in the second sea ...

, averaging 1.6 points per game. Zunic joined the Northside Wizards for the 2023 NBL1 North season. In 14 games, he averaged 15.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 2.43 steals per game. Zunic missed the first three weeks of the

2023–24 NBL season The 2023–24 NBL season was the 46th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested in the 2023–24 season. Australian broadcast rights to the season are held by ESPN in the third seas ...

due to a foot injury. He appeared in 10 games for the Wildcats in 2023–24, scoring eight total points. He earned his second straight Perth Wildcats Coaches Award. On 21 March 2024, Zunic signed with the Keilor Thunder for the 2024

season. In 18 games, he averaged 18.22 points, 6.11 rebounds, 6.11 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

National team career

In 2015, Zunic helped the Australian under-16 team win gold at the FIBA Oceania Under-16 Championship in New Zealand. In 2016, Zunic represented Australia at the

FIBA Under-17 World Championship The FIBA Under-17 Basketball World Cup (formerly FIBA Under-17 World Championship) is the under-17 men's world basketball championship organised by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). The inaugural tournament was in July 2010, and is ...

in Spain. That same year, he won silver with the Australian under-19 team at the

FIBA Oceania Under-18 Championship The FIBA U17 Oceania Cup, formerly the FIBA Under-17 Oceania Championship, is an international junior men's basketball tournament in the FIBA Oceania zone, inaugurated in 2002. The current champions are Australia men's national under-19 basketba ...

in Fiji. He also competed at the

Albert Schweitzer Tournament The DBB Albert Schweitzer Tournament (, abbreviated as AST), full name DBB Albert Schweitzer World Under-18 Tournament (), is an international basketball competition that is played between national teams of the Under-18 men's age category. It t ...

in Germany. In 2019, Zunic helped the Australian University National Team win bronze at the

World University Games The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

in Italy. He recorded a team-high four assists in the bronze medal game against Israel. In February 2022, Zunic was named in the

Australian Boomers The Australia men's national basketball team, nicknamed the Boomers after the slang term for a male kangaroo, represents Australia in international basketball competition. Since the late 1980s, Australia has placed among the world elite teams, ...

squad for the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers in Japan.

Personal life

Zunic is the son of Zoran and Tania Zunic. His father played in the NBL for the

Sydney Supersonics The Sydney Supersonics are a defunct basketball team that competed in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL). The team joined the NBL in 1979 as the City of Sydney Astronauts, becoming the Sydney Supersonics in 1982 as a result of a merge ...

(1983) and

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and play their home games at Qudos Ba ...

(1988). His brother,

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

, is a

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

References

External links

NBL profileNBL1 profileWinthrop Eagles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zunic, Kyle 1999 births Living people Australian men's basketball players Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States Medalists at the 2019 Summer Universiade Perth Wildcats players Point guards Shooting guards Sportsmen from New South Wales Winthrop Eagles men's basketball players FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Australia Summer World University Games medalists in basketball 21st-century Australian sportsmen