Aaron Michael Bruce (born 19 December 1984) is an Australian former professional basketball player who played four seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

before playing in the NBL for the

Adelaide 36ers The Adelaide 36ers, also known as the Sixers, 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 th ...

and the

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Kings were formed from a merger between the West Sydney Westars and the ...

Early life and career

Born in

Birchip, Victoria Birchip is a town in the Mallee region of Victoria, Australia on the Sunraysia Highway north of Donald. The town is located in the Shire of Buloke local government area. At the , Birchip had a population of 694, down from the 2016 figure of 7 ...

, Bruce attended Horsham College in nearby

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

, where he graduated in 2002. He was part of the very successful Horsham Hornets program which claimed four consecutive

Big V Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * '' Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show present ...

titles between 2000 and 2003. He also played for Horsham in 2004, leaving the team on a perfect season record to play

in the United States, having signed a

National Letter of Intent National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

with

in November 2003. Bruce also attended the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

(AIS) in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

in 2002 and 2003, where he played for the program's SEABL team.

College career

As a freshman at Baylor in 2004–05, Bruce was the school's most productive freshman since Lawrence Roberts in 2001–02. He started all 28 games and led the team with 34.8 minutes per game, finishing as the nation's top-scoring freshman with 18.2 points per game (highest freshman average in Big 12 history). He was named freshman All-America by Basketball Times (first team), Rivals.com (second team) and CollegeInsider.com, while earning All-Big 12 honours by the Associated Press (third team), Kansas City Star (third team) and the Lawrence Journal-World (third team). He was also named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year by Kansas City Star, San Antonio Express-News and ESPN.com's Dick Vitale, and earned USBWA All-District 7 team honours. As a sophomore in 2005–06, Bruce started all 17 games during school's abbreviated 2005–06 season – Baylor was barred from playing any non-conference games in 2005–06 due to a 2003 scandal. He was named All-Big 12 honourable mention by league coaches and Associated Press, earned Academic All-Big 12 second team honours, named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honour Roll for fall 2005, and voted the Big 12's "Most Underrated Player" by opposing conference players in a poll taken by Sports Illustrated. He averaged 13.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game on the season. As a junior in 2006–07, Bruce played in 29 of 31 games (missed two games due to injury), starting all 29. He was named an honourable mention All-Big 12 selection for the third straight year and was named to the Spring 2007 Big 12 Commissioner's Honour Roll. On 21 February 2007, he became the 19th Baylor player to score 1,000 points with seven points in win over Nebraska. He averaged 11.3 points, 3.4 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game on the season. As a senior in 2007–08, Bruce averaged 8.4 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game and helped guide the Bears to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 20 years. He finished his college career as one of just four Bears ever to surpass 1,000 career points and 300 career assists. His 1,330 career points were at the time the seventh-most in school history.

College statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , style="text-align:left;", Baylor , 28 , , 28 , , 34.8 , , .471 , , .399 , , .828 , , 2.6 , , 3.8 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 18.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2005–06 , style="text-align:left;", Baylor , 17 , , 17 , , 31.1 , , .373 , , .407 , , .806 , , 3.5 , , 3.2 , , .4 , , .1 , , 13.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2006–07 , style="text-align:left;", Baylor , 29 , , 29 , , 29.7 , , .415 , , .394 , , .803 , , 2.7 , , 3.4 , , .7 , , .1 , , 11.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;", Baylor , 32 , , 23 , , 21.6 , , .401 , , .358 , , .791 , , 1.7 , , 1.9 , , .9 , , .1 , , 8.4 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 106 , , 98 , , 28.8 , , .424 , , .390 , , .811 , , 2.5 , , 3.0 , , .8 , , .1 , , 12.5 , -

Professional career

In April 2008, Bruce competed in the

Portsmouth Invitational Tournament The Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, (PIT), is the oldest amateur basketball tournament in the United States and the only postseason camp restricted to college basketball seniors. The Portsmouth Invitational is the first of two NBA pre-draft ...

, where he averaged 6.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists in three games. On 17 May 2008, he made a cameo appearance for the Horsham Hornets in the

Division Three, playing alongside his brothers Cameron and

Shaun Shaun is an Anglicisation of names, anglicized spelling of the Ireland, Irish name Seán. Alternative spellings include Shawn (given name), Shawn, Sean and Shawne. Notable persons with the given name include: People *Shaun (musician) (born 1990), ...

. In June 2008, he completed tryouts for a number of NBA teams, including the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

and

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

. In July 2008, he played for the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

during the

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season competition organized by the National Basketball Association. NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regular season line-ups ...

, where he averaged 1.7 points, 1.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists in three games.

Adelaide 36ers

In August 2008, Bruce joined the

ahead of 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 th ...

. He scored 22 points in his first NBL game and averaged 10 points and five assists for the season. He was subsequently named NBL Rookie of the Year. In 2009, Bruce took a career break in the United States, and in August 2010, he earned his undergraduate degree from Baylor University. In December 2010, Bruce returned to Adelaide to work out with the 36ers. Following an injury to

Rhys Carter Rhys Jarred Carter (born 14 March 1984) is an Australian former professional basketball player and current assistant coach for Melbourne United of the National Basketball League (NBL). He had a near 20-year career, playing 282 NBL games (inclu ...

, Bruce was brought into the side for the remainder of the 2010–11 season, making his comeback on 31 December. In 15 games, he averaged 6.0 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. Following the conclusion of the 2010–11 NBL season, Bruce extended his stay in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

to play for the

Eastern Mavericks Eastern Mavericks is a NBL1 Central club based in Mount Barker, South Australia. The club fields both a men's and women's team. The club is a division of the overarching Eastern Mavericks District Basketball Club (EMDBC), the major administrative b ...

in the Central ABL. In 15 games for the Mavericks, he averaged 17.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game.

Sydney Kings

In May 2011, Bruce signed with the

. His 2011–12 season ended in January 2012 after suffering a vertical fracture to his

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

. In 17 games, he averaged 13.9 points, 2.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. He returned to the Kings for the 2012–13 season and averaged 9.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 29 games. Following the 2012–13 season, Bruce retired from basketball after failing to negotiate a pay raise with Kings. The club had asked him to take a pay cut; he instead chose to part ways with the team rather than accept a reduced contract.

National team career

Bruce spent the summer of 2003 playing for the Australian junior national team that won gold at the

2003 FIBA Under-19 World Championship The 2003 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Greek: 2003 Παγκόσμιο Πρωτάθλημα FIBA Under-19) was the 7th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship. The men's U19 youth international basketball championship organized by FIBA. I ...

in Greece. He led Australia with 25 points in a 106–85 upset of Team USA, which featured Dee Brown and

JJ Redick Jonathan Clay "JJ" Redick (born June 24, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who is a podcaster and sports analyst for ESPN. He was selected 11th overall by the Orlando Magic in the 2006 NBA draft. He played college baske ...

. He was also a member of the Australian Under-21 national team in 2004. In the summer of 2005, Bruce served as captain of the Australian Under-21 national team. They played exhibition games in Europe and Canada before participating in the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in Argentina. He went on to play for the

Australian Boomers The Australian men's national basketball team, known as the Boomers after the slang term for a male kangaroo, represents Australia in international basketball competition. Since the late 1980s, Australia has been placed among the world elite t ...

that tied for ninth place at

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised by ...

in Japan. In six games, he averaged 4.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.

Personal

Bruce is the son of Steve and Julie Bruce. His mother was a national-level swimmer while two of his uncles,

Des Des is a masculine given name, mostly a short form (hypocorism) of Desmond. People named Des include: People * Des Buckingham, English football manager * Des Corcoran, (1928–2004), Australian politician * Des Dillon (disambiguation), sever ...

and Stephen Ryan, played in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

. He also has two younger brothers, Cameron and

, both of whom are basketball players.

References

External links

Aaron Bruce
at baylorbears.com
"Home always important during Aaron Bruce's career"
at mailtimes.com.au {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Aaron 1984 births Living people Adelaide 36ers players Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States Australian Institute of Sport basketball players Baylor Bears men's basketball players Point guards Shooting guards Sydney Kings players 2006 FIBA World Championship players Sportsmen from Victoria (Australia) Australian men's basketball players