Rhys Anthony Vague (born 17 January 1996) is an Australian 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 (appr ...
player for the
Kagawa Five Arrows of the Japanese
B.League. He made his debut for his hometown
Perth Wildcats
The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at RAC Arena, known colloquially as "The Jungle".
Aft ...
in the
NBL as a development player in 2014. After four seasons as a development player, he was elevated to a fully contracted player in 2018. In his six seasons with the Wildcats, he was a part of four championship teams in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020. Vague also made a name for himself 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 ...
(SBL), playing for the
Cockburn Cougars,
East Perth Eagles and
Stirling Senators, earning the
SBL's Most Improved Player in 2015.
Early life
Vague grew up in the
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
suburb of
Kardinya. He played his first game of
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 ...
at the age of seven, starting at the Spearwood Hawks Junior Basketball Club before joining the
Cockburn Cougars junior program. He is also a product of the rich basketball program at
Willetton Senior High School
Willetton Senior High School (WSHS) is a public secondary school in Willetton, Western Australia, south of the Perth central business district and east of the port of Fremantle. The school opened in February 1977 with 77 students. As of 202 ...
.
He barracked for 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 (NBL) and play their home games at RAC Arena, known colloquially as "The Jungle".
Aft ...
, idolised the players and dreamt of playing for the club.
Basketball career
SBL, SEABL and NZNBL (2013–2019)
Vague made his
SBL debut for the
Cockburn Cougars in
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
at the age of 17.
He appeared in two games in his first season. He continued on with the Cougars in
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...
and averaged 3.7 points and 2.8 rebounds in 16 games. He also had a three-game stint with the
Basketball Australia
Basketball Australia is the governing and controlling body of basketball in Australia, responsible for the development and promotion of the sport at all levels.
Basketball Australia sanctions Australia's two professional leagues, the Nation ...
Centre of Excellence in the
SEABL midway through the year.
Vague joined the
East Perth Eagles for the
2015 SBL season. In 22 games, he averaged 18.2 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. He was subsequently named the
SBL's Most Improved Player. He re-joined the Eagles in
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
and appeared in all 26 games, averaging 19.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.
Vague joined the
Stirling Senators for the
2017 SBL season. In 28 games, he averaged 18.0 points, 8.29 rebounds and 3.18 assists per game.
Vague moved east in 2018 to play for the Dandenong Rangers in the SEABL. In his debut for the Rangers, he scored a season-high 33 points.
In 19 games, he averaged 15.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.
On 5 March 2019, Vague signed with the
Nelson Giants
The Nelson Giants are a New Zealand basketball team based in Nelson. The Giants compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Trafalgar Centre. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the Mike Pero Nelso ...
for the
2019 New Zealand NBL season. In his debut for the Giants on 13 April 2019, Vague scored 21 points in a 93–78 season-opening win over the
Taranaki Mountainairs. On 7 June, he scored 26 points in a 102–81 win over the
Super City Rangers. He appeared in all 18 games for the Giants, averaging 16.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.
Perth Wildcats (2014–2020)
Following the 2014 SBL season, Vague began training with 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 (NBL) and play their home games at RAC Arena, known colloquially as "The Jungle".
Aft ...
during the
NBL pre-season before earning selection as a development player.
He made his debut for the Wildcats on 24 October 2014 at
Perth Arena
Perth Arena (known commercially as ) is an entertainment and sporting arena in the city centre of Perth, Western Australia, used mostly for basketball matches. It is located on Wellington Street near the site of the former Perth Entertainmen ...
. He received 45 seconds of action deep into the game against 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 ...
, a match the Wildcats won 84–63.
Vague was active for three more games during the
2014–15 season, but did not appear in any further action. He appeared in six games during the
2015–16 season and was a member of the team's championship-winning squad. He did not appear in a game during the
2016–17 season, with the Wildcats claiming back-to-back championships. In
2017–18, he played in a then career-high 13 NBL games, averaging 1.5 points.
On 19 April 2018, Vague signed a two-year deal with the Wildcats, earning elevation to the team's full-time roster after four years as a development player.
On 17 January 2019, on his 23rd birthday, Vague made his first career start, recording 10 points, five rebounds and four assists in 25 minutes in a 97–84 loss to 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 ...
. In March 2019, he was a member of the Wildcats' championship-winning team. In March 2020, he was crowned an NBL champion for the fourth time in five years.
Kagawa Five Arrows and Hawke's Bay Hawks (2020–present)
In July 2020, Vague signed with the
Kagawa Five Arrows of the Japanese
B.League for the 2020–21 season. In 50 games, he averaged 10.0 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.
In May 2021, Vague joined the
Hawke's Bay Hawks for the
2021 New Zealand NBL season
The 2021 NBL season was the 40th season of the National Basketball League.
As a result of the modified, COVID-affected 2020 season, three of the top four teams in 2019 ( Wellington Saints, Hawke's Bay Hawks and Southland Sharks) did not compet ...
.
On 18 June 2021, Vague re-signed with the Five Arrows for the 2021–22 season.
He averaged 12.8 points per game.
On 8 June 2022, Vague re-signed with the Five Arrows for the 2022–23 season.
National team career
In December 2013, Vague won a silver medal with Australia at the FIBA Oceania Pacific Championships in New Zealand.
In December 2014, Vague won a gold medal with the
Australian Emus at the
FIBA Oceania Under 19 Championships in Fiji. In April 2015, he was named in a 16-man Australian Emus squad in the lead up to the
2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship
The 2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Greek: Παγκόσμιο Πρωτάθλημα FIBA Under-19 2015) was the 12th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship contested by th ...
s in Greece, but ultimately missed out on the final squad.
In June 2017, Vague was named in the 12-man
Emerging Boomers squad for the
2017 Summer Universiade
The 2017 Summer Universiade (), officially known as the XXIX Summer Universiade ( zh, t=第二十九屆夏季世界大學運動會, p=Dì èrshíjiǔ jiè xiàjì shìjiè dàxué yùndònghuì) and commonly called Taipei 2017 ( zh, t=台北2 ...
in Taiwan. The team consisted of players under the age of 25 who were completing university studies.
In February 2022, Vague was named in a 17-man
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 ...
squad ahead of the
FIBA World Cup Qualifiers in Japan. He re-joined the team later that year for the next qualifying window.
References
External links
Kagawa Five Arrows profileSEABL stats"Promoted Perth Wildcat Rhys Vague sets sights on bumper pre-season"at thewest.com.au
"Vague the catalyst in breakout performance"at wildcats.com.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vague, Rhys
1996 births
Living people
Australian expatriate basketball people in Japan
Australian men's basketball players
Basketball players from Perth, Western Australia
Forwards (basketball)
Hawke's Bay Hawks players
Kagawa Five Arrows players
Nelson Giants players
Perth Wildcats players