Matthew Adekponya (born 9 June 1990) is an Australian-born Ghanaian

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 (appr ...

player and filmmaker. He played in the

Queensland Basketball League 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 ...

(QBL) every year between 2009 and 2015, winning QBL championships with the Cairns Marlins (2009) and Mackay Meteors (2015). After two years 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) in Western Australia, he returned to the QBL in 2018 and then had a stint in 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 2021. Elsewhere, he played in Europe between 2013 and 2017.

Early life

Adekponya was born in Australia and grew up in

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. He attended

Lindsey Wilson College Lindsey Wilson College is a private United Methodist-related college in Columbia, Kentucky. Degree programs are offered at the associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels.. History Lindsey Wilson College was founded in 1903 as a traini ...

in the United States in 2010–11 but did not play for the basketball team.

Basketball career

Australia

Adekponya made his debut in the

(QBL) in 2009 with the Cairns Marlins. The team won the QBL championship in his first season. He played for the Marlins every year until 2012. During this time, he was a development player with the

Cairns Taipans The Cairns Taipans are an Australian professional basketball team based in Cairns, Queensland. The Taipans compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Cairns Conventio ...

in the National Basketball League (NBL). He failed to make his NBL debut during his two-year stint in 2011–12 and

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. Between 2013 and 2015, Adekponya played for the Mackay Meteors. He helped the Meteors win the 2015 QBL championship. Adekponya spent time with the

Townsville Crocodiles The Townsville Crocodiles were an Australian professional men's basketball team based in the North Queensland city of Townsville. They competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) and played their home games at the Townsville Entertainmen ...

during the 2014 and 2015 NBL pre-seasons. In 2016, Adekponya played for the

Geraldton Buccaneers The Geraldton Buccaneers, also known as the Buccs, are an Australian basketball team based in Geraldton, Western Australia. The Buccaneers compete in the Men's NBL1 West and play their home games at Activewest Stadium. The team is affiliated with ...

in the

(SBL) and earned All-Star Five honours. He continued in the SBL for the

Perry Lakes Hawks Perry Lakes Hawks is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Perry Lakes Basketball Association (PLBA), the major administrative basketball org ...

in 2017. Adekponya returned to the QBL in 2018 to play for the

Gold Coast Rollers Gold Coast Rollers may refer to: * Gold Coast Rollers (NBL), former National Basketball League team *Gold Coast Rollers (NBL1 North) Gold Coast Rollers is a NBL1 North club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The club fields a team in both the Me ...

. In May 2021, Adekponya had a two-game stint with the Mackay Meteors in the

as a short-term replacement for an injured player.

Europe

Adekponya's first stint in Europe came in the 2013–14 season. After nearly two months trialling in Spain, he joined Barcelos Hotel Terco in Portugal in October 2013. He moved to Malta in January 2014 and helped PAVI Depiro win the regular season. For the 2014–15 season, Adekponya played for Nidaros Jets in Norway, where he earned

BLNO Basketligaen Norge, better known as BLNO is Norway's premier professional men's basketball league. It was established in 2000. The competition is organised by the Norwegian Basketball Federation (NBBF). Clubs Former clubs Finals Awards Most ...

All-Star honours and was the league's top scorer with 30.2 points per game. After attempting to crack the NBA D-League in 2016, Adekponya joined

Team FOG Næstved Team FOG Næstved is a professional basketball team from Næstved, Denmark, playing in the best Danish basketball league, Basketligaen. The team won its first title in 2017, where they won the Danish Basketball Cup. Their current head coach is A ...

in Denmark in January 2017 for the rest of the season.

Digital career

Off the court, Adekponya is a filmmaker. In 2017, he released his first documentary. During the

2019–20 NBL season The 2019–20 NBL season was the 42nd season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. Teams Nine teams competed in the 2019–20 Season with the addition of South East Melbourne Phoenix. Off-season changes *The ...

, Adekponya worked with the

Illawarra Hawks The Illawarra Hawks (formerly the Wollongong Hawks and The Hawks) is 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 games ...

as digital content creator. The Hawks subsequently won the NBL's Best Digital/Social Media award. Adekponya was the director of ''Building Titans'', a film based on rugby league club the Gold Coast Titans. As of March 2022, Adekponya was working on a documentary highlighting the bronze medal won by 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 ...

at the Tokyo Olympics. He is close with Australian Boomer Patty Mills.

Personal life

Adekponya's sister Rachel is married to former NBA player

Aron Baynes Aron John Baynes (born 9 December 1986) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Brisbane Bullets of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for Washington State University before starting his professi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adekponya, Matthew 1990 births Living people Australian men's basketball players Australian documentary filmmakers Guards (basketball) Lindsey Wilson College alumni Team FOG Næstved players Sportspeople from Cairns Sportsmen from Queensland