Michael James Vigor (born 17 September 1990) is a Scottish-born Australian professional basketball player for the Willetton Tigers of the

NBL1 West NBL1 West, formerly the State Basketball League (SBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Western Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Western Australia partnered with the National Basketball L ...

. He made his debut in the

State Basketball League NBL1 West, formerly the State Basketball League (SBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Western Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Western Australia partnered with the National Basketball L ...

(SBL) for the Perth Redbacks in 2008 and in 2011 joined 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) as a development player. He won an NBL championship with the Wildcats in 2014 and an SBL championship with the Redbacks in 2017. He played in Europe between 2015 and 2020, and in 2018 he represented

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

Early life

Vigor was born in Westhill, Scotland, to an English father and a Scottish mother. He lived there for the first five years of his life before being raised in Australia. Vigor attended Wesley College in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, where he played for the school's basketball team. He also played in the Western Australian Basketball League (WABL) for the Perth Redbacks as a junior.

Professional career

SBL, SEABL and NBL1

Vigor debuted in the

(SBL) for the Perth Redbacks in 2008. He continued with the Redbacks until 2013. In 2012, he won the SBL Most Improved Player Award. In 2014 and 2015, Vigor played for the Bendigo Braves 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). Vigor re-joined the Redbacks in 2016 and was named the team MVP. In 2017, he helped the Redbacks win the SBL championship. He played his ninth season with the Redbacks in 2018. In 2019, Vigor joined the Lakeside Lightning in the SBL. He continued with the Lightning in 2020 in the West Coast Classic. In 2021, Vigor joined the Willetton Tigers for the inaugural NBL1 West season. In 19 games, he averaged 16.26 points, 10.57 rebounds, 3.15 assists and 1.15 steals per game. He re-joined the Tigers 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 ...

and averaged 11.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 19 games. He re-joined the Tigers for the

2023 NBL1 West season The 2023 NBL1 West season was the third season of the NBL1 West and 34th overall in State Basketball League (SBL) / NBL1 West history. The regular season began on Friday 31 March and ended on Saturday 22 July. The finals began on Friday 28 July a ...

and averaged 9.23 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.45 assists in 22 games. Vigor re-joined the Tigers for the 2024 NBL1 West season. He suffered a late season calf injury but returned to play his 300th SBL/NBL1 game in July 2024. He helped the Tigers reach the NBL1 West grand final, where they lost 91–89 to the Mandurah Magic. Vigor had six points, eight rebounds and 11 assists. Vigor is set to re-join the Tigers for the 2025 NBL1 West season.

NBL and Europe

Vigor was a development player for the

of the National Basketball League (NBL) between 2011 and 2014. He was a member of the Wildcats' championship-winning team in the 2013–14 season. In July 2015, Vigor signed with the

Plymouth Raiders Plymouth Raiders are a basketball team based in Plymouth, England, currently competing in Division 3 of the National Basketball League (England), National Basketball League. Founded in 1983 through a merger between two local basketball clubs, ...

of the

British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) was a men's professional basketball sports league, league in Great Britain. Since its establishment in 1987 the BBL represented the highest level of basketball competition within the United Kingdom. The orga ...

for the 2015–16 season. In 32 games, he averaged 11.5 points per game on 33% shooting from behind the three-point-line. On 29 June 2016, Vigor signed with the Bristol Flyers for the 2016–17 season. In 33 games, he averaged 9.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. On 31 May 2017, Vigor re-signed with the Flyers and joined the team as captain for the 2017–18 season. In 32 games, he averaged 8.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. In December 2018, Vigor re-joined the Flyers for the rest of the 2018–19 season. In 15 games, he averaged 6.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Vigor played in Italy in the 2019–20 season, averaging 16.1 points in 18 games for Libertas Altamura in the Lega Basket Serie C.

National team career

In January 2018, Vigor received his first international call-up for

ahead of the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

on the Gold Coast. He qualified to play for Scotland through his mother's Scottish heritage. He helped Scotland reach the bronze medal game at the Commonwealth Games, as they finished the tournament in fourth place.

Personal life

Vigor married his wife Jadie in 2022.

References

External links

*
Bristol Flyers profile (November 2018)Bristol Flyers profile (January 2018)PerformanceBasketball.com.au profileDaveOwenBasketball.co.uk profile"Time to meet – Mike Vigor"
at bbl.org.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Vigor, Michael 1990 births Living people Australian men's basketball players Basketball players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Bristol Flyers players Scottish emigrants to Australia Centers (basketball) Commonwealth Games competitors for Scotland People educated at Wesley College, Perth Perth Wildcats players Plymouth Raiders players Power forwards Sportspeople from Aberdeenshire Basketball players from Perth, Western Australia Scottish men's basketball players Sportsmen from Western Australia Australian people of English descent Scottish people of English descent Australian expatriate basketball people in Italy British expatriate basketball people in Italy Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Italy 21st-century Scottish sportsmen 21st-century Australian sportsmen