Shane McDonald (born 29 May 1985) is an Australian former 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. He had four stints in the National Basketball League (NBL) with the

Singapore Slingers The Singapore Slingers are a Singaporean professional basketball team that last competed in the ASEAN Basketball League. The Slingers were known as the JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers between 2009 and 2014, due to sponsorship ties with JobSt ...

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, ...

Melbourne Tigers Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Joh ...

and

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Bank of New Zealand, BNZ Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers are the only non-Australian side currently competing in Austral ...

. The majority of his career was spent 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) for the

Nunawading Spectres Nunawading Spectres is a NBL1 South club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Melbourne East Basketball Association (MEBA), the major administrative basketball ...

, winning a championship in 2011 and league MVP honours in 2013. In his final season, he helped the Spectres win the 2019

NBL1 The NBL1 is a semi-professional basketball league in Australia run by the National Basketball League (NBL). The league consists of five conferences: NBL1 South, NBL1 North, NBL1 Central, NBL1 West and NBL1 East, with each consisting of bot ...

championship.

Early life and college

McDonald attended Horsham College in

Horsham, Victoria Horsham () is a regional city in the Wimmera region of western Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Located on a bend in the Wimmera River, Horsham is approximately northwest of the state capital Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, Horsham ...

. He grew up playing for the Horsham Hornets. For the 2004–05 U.S. college season, McDonald played for the

Nova Southeastern Sharks men's basketball A nova ( novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. All observed novae involve white ...

team.

Professional career

NBL

McDonald made his debut in the National Basketball League (NBL) in the 2007–08 season with the

. In 29 games, he averaged 7.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. In January 2009, McDonald joined the

during the

2008–09 NBL season The 2008–09 NBL season was the 31st season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of 10 teams contested the league. 2008–09 league participants * On 30 June 2008 the Brisbane Bullets confirmed they would be handing back t ...

. He played five games for the Wildcats. In January 2012, McDonald joined the

during the

2011–12 NBL season The 2011–12 NBL season was the 34th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of nine teams contested the league. The regular season was played between 7 October 2011 and 25 March 2012, followed by a post-season involving ...

. He played in one game for the Tigers. For the

2015–16 NBL season The 2015–16 NBL season was the 38th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between 7 October 2015 and 14 February 2016, followed by a post-season featur ...

, McDonald joined the

. In his debut for the Breakers, he scored seven points on 2-of-11 shooting. He lost his spot in the line-up for the playoffs after the coaching staff preferred development player

Shea Ili Shea Ili (born 6 October 1992) is a New Zealand professional basketball player for the Wellington Saints of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL). He is also contracted with Melbourne United of the Australian National Basketball Le ...

. The Breakers made the grand final series, where they lost to the

. In 22 games, McDonald averaged 1.3 points in 6.2 minutes per game.

SEABL

In 2005, McDonald played for the

Albury Wodonga Bandits Albury Wodonga Bandits is a NBL1 East club based in Albury, New South Wales. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 East. The club is a division of the overarching Border Basketball Club, the major administrative basketball or ...

in the

(SEABL). He joined the

in 2006 and played for them every year until 2019. In 2011, McDonald helped the Spectres win the SEABL championship while earning grand final MVP honours. In 2013, he earned SEABL co-MVP honours alongside

Sandringham Sabres Sandringham Sabres is a NBL1 South club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Southern Basketball Association (SBA), the major administrative basketball organisatio ...

centre John Pichon. In 2014, McDonald helped the Spectres win the SEABL East Conference title. They went on to lose to the

Mount Gambier Pioneers Mount Gambier Pioneers is a NBL1 South club based in Mount Gambier, South Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Basketball Mount Gambier, the major administrative basketball organisat ...

in the SEABL grand final. In 2016, McDonald helped the Spectres reach the East Conference grand final, where they were defeated 76–64 by the

Bendigo Braves Bendigo Braves is a NBL1 South club based in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Bendigo Basketball Association, the major administrative basketball organisatio ...

. He was subsequently named in the All-SEABL Team for the sixth straight season. In 2017, McDonald was named the recipient of the SEABL's Golden Hands award and became the SEABL's all-time assists leader, overtaking Ben Harvey with 1,959. In 2018, McDonald led the Spectres to the SEABL Grand Final, where they lost 72–58 to the

Hobart Chargers Hobart Chargers is a NBL1 South club based in Hobart, Tasmania. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The Chargers play their home games at the Hobart Netball and Sports Centre and Pembroke Park's South East Stadium. Cl ...

. In 2019, McDonald helped the Spectres return to the grand final, this time in the

, where he had 12 points and 10 assists in a 99–90 win over the

to claim his second championship with Nunawading. He announced his retirement following the grand final.

Personal life

McDonald is married to wife Emily. McDonald is a physical education teacher and was the basketball coach at

Maribyrnong College Maribyrnong College, also known as Maribyrnong Secondary College, and formerly known as Maribyrnong High School, is a government-funded secondary day school that specialises in sports, located in Maribyrnong in the inner western suburbs of M ...

in Melbourne before signing with the New Zealand Breakers in 2015. In August 2022, the

Western Australian Institute of Sport The Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) is an elite sports institute set up in 1983 by the Government of Western Australia to support athletes in Western Australia. The founding director was Wally Foreman who held the position for 17 ye ...

(WAIS) appointed McDonald as its first Women's Basketball head coach. Despite being a left-hander, McDonald shoots the basketball with his right.

References

External links

New Zealand Breakers profileNBL profileSEABL stats (2005–2016)
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Shane 1985 births Living people Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States Melbourne Tigers players New Zealand Breakers players Nova Southeastern Sharks men's basketball players Perth Wildcats players Point guards Singapore Slingers players