Sam Timmins

This article is about the New Zealand basketball player. For the 19th-century Shakespearean scholar, see Samuel Timmins.
Sam Timmins
No. 33 – Washington Huskies
Position Centre
League Pac-12 Conference
Personal information
Born (1997-05-23) 23 May 1997
Dunedin, New Zealand
Nationality New Zealand
Listed height 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight 275 lb (125 kg)
Career information
High school Otago Boys'
(Dunedin, New Zealand)
Middleton Grange School
(Christchurch, New Zealand)
College Washington (2016–present)
Playing career 2013–present
Career history
2013 Otago Nuggets
2015 Canterbury Rams

Samuel "Sam" Timmins (born 23 May 1997) is a New Zealand basketball player who most recently played in the National Basketball League (NBL) for the Canterbury Rams.

Early life

Born in Dunedin, Otago, Timmins moved to Southland as a youth and lived there while his father played for the Southland Stags rugby union team.[1] After his father quit the game, he and his family moved back to Dunedin and Timmins later enrolled at Otago Boys' High School. Timmins was heavily involved in rugby until he was 12 years old, playing as a lock and Number 8 for the Kaikorai club. He also played social basketball, but only began to take the game seriously after arriving at Otago Boys' High School.[2]

Basketball career

At age 15,[3] Timmins became the youngest Otago Nugget ever, surpassing the record set by former UNLV All-American point guard Mark Dickel. Timmins played off the bench in two games for the Nuggets in 2013, but a stress fracture in his back kept him sidelined for the entire 2014 season.

After recovering and getting fit again by August 2014, Timmins returned to help New Zealand reach the final 16 of the 3x3 basketball tournament at the Youth Olympics in China. Two months later, he led Otago Boys' High School to the National Schools Championship and was named tournament MVP, and joined teammates Joe Cook-Green and Liam Aston on the Tournament Team. His performances in the final two games were outstanding. In the semi-final, he matched a heavily favoured Rangitoto College front line that contained Yuat Alok and Tai Wynyard – both New Zealand Breakers development players. He then recorded 26 points and 23 rebounds in the final to help Otago Boys' defeat Westlake Boys High School and win its first national secondary schools title.[4] Then in December 2014, he had a stellar performance with 20 points in the Junior Tall Blacks' agonising 84–81 loss to Australia in the Under-18 Oceania Championship final in Fiji.[5]

In January 2015, Timmins moved to Christchurch after the Otago Nuggets pulled out of the NBL due to financial difficulties. With no basketball opportunities left in Dunedin, Timmins made the tough decision to move to Christchurch in order to play for the Canterbury Rams and attend Middleton Grange School. With his focus set on gaining a scholarship to the United States for 2016, Timmins followed former Nuggets teammate and new Rams coach Mark Dickel up to Christchurch in order to join Canterbury's development programme.[5] However, despite being one of the youngest players on the Rams team and having former NBA player Mickell Gladness as a teammate, Timmins started in the Rams' 2015 season opener against the Manawatu Jets on 3 April. He finished the game with 20 points and 9 rebounds, as he helped the Rams defeat the Jets, 114–98.[6] He went on to start at centre in the next three games as well before being replaced in the starting line-up by Gladness on 24 April against the Nelson Giants. Over his four-game starting stretch, he averaged 10 points and five rebounds per game.

On 29 April 2015, Timmins signed a National Letter of Intent to play college basketball for the Washington Huskies in 2016–17, becoming the first player from the newly formed Mainland Eagles Basketball Academy in Christchurch to secure a college basketball scholarship.[7][8] A month later, Timmins took a temporary leave from the Rams to represent New Zealand at the FIBA 3x3 Under-18 World Championship in Hungary.[9] After helping New Zealand win the 3x3 Under-18 title, Timmins returned to Canterbury and played out the remainder of the season with the Rams. He managed 16 games with five starting assignments for the Rams in 2015, averaging 5.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.[10]

On 21 June 2015, Timmins was named in the Tall Blacks senior trial squad for their upcoming winter events in preparation for the 2015 FIBA Oceania Championship.[11][12] However, he was later cut from the final squad in mid-July.[13]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

NBL

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2013 Otago 2 0 4.0 .500 .000 .000 .5 .0 .5 .5 1.0
2015 Canterbury 16 5 11.2 .522 .308 .682 3.4 .2 .1 .5 5.7
Career 18 5 10.3 .521 .308 .682 3.1 .2 .1 .5 5.2

Personal

Timmins is the son of Brendon and Karen Timmins, and has a sister named Ruby.[1][5] His father played 74 games for the Otago rugby team and 42 games for the Highlanders, while his mother played netball for Southland. His grandmother, Sandra McGookin, was a six-time New Zealand javelin champion.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 Wright, Don (23 July 2013). "Timmins still force for southern sport". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  2. ↑ Egan, Brendon (20 May 2015). "Rapid rise for Kiwi schoolboy basketball star Sam Timmins". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  3. ↑ Seconi, Adrian (15 May 2013). "Basketball: Walk, run, win: Nuggets rebound". ODT.co.nz. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  4. ↑ Cheshire, Jeff (3 April 2015). "Sam Timmins Making Case to Top Talented New Zealand Recruiting Class". BleacherReport.com. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 van Royen, Robert (15 January 2015). "Basketball: Timmins heading north to advance sports career". ODT.co.nz. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  6. ↑ Egan, Brendon (3 April 2015). "Canterbury Rams too strong for Manawatu Jets in NBL clash". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Canterbury Rams rookie Sam Timmins scores US scholarship". Stuff.co.nz. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  8. ↑ Anderson, Niall (29 April 2015). "Timmins Commits To University Of Washington". NZhoops.co.nz. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  9. ↑ Egan, Brendon (29 May 2015). "Canterbury Rams aim to bounce back with victory in National Basketball League". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  10. ↑ "Player statistics for Sam Timmins". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  11. ↑ "TALL BLACKS NAME LONG LIST". Basketball.org.nz. 21 June 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  12. ↑ "Basketball: Timmins invited to Tall Blacks trial". ODT.co.nz. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  13. ↑ "Henare announces touring Tall Blacks squad". FoxSportsPulse.com. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  14. ↑ Seconi, Adrian (24 December 2015). "Basketball: Timmins' life about to change". ODT.co.nz. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
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