Sunday Dech (born 1 January 1994) is a South Sudanese-Australian professional basketball player for the Adelaide 36ers of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). He is a two-time NBL champion with the Perth Wildcats, having won 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 wat ...

and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. Dech played NCAA Division II college basketball for the

Metro State Roadrunners The Metro State Roadrunners are the athletic teams that represent Metropolitan State University of Denver. The Roadrunners participate in 15 intercollegiate sports and compete in the Division II Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. History Metro ...

and Barry Buccaneers.

Early life

Dech was born in Gambela, Ethiopia, as one of seven children to South Sudanese parents Abraham Dech and Aret Ochala. His family are members of the Anuak tribe. Dech moved from Gambela to Perth, Western Australia, at the age of six when his father was able to secure immigration forms for his family. He participated in a variety of sports growing up – including

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and

skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a ...

– that he credits as helping him to acclimatise to Australian life. Dech began playing basketball at the age of 16. He attended

Churchlands Senior High School Churchlands Senior High School is an independent public secondary school located in Churchlands, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, approximately northwest from the Perth central business district. It is the largest school in Western Au ...

and graduated in 2012.

Basketball career

Early years

Dech debuted 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) with the East Perth Eagles in

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. For the

2013–14 NBL season The 2013–14 NBL season was the 36th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between 10 October 2013 and 23 March 2014, and was followed by a post-season f ...

, he joined the Perth Wildcats as a development player and was a member of the championship-winning team in April 2014. That year, he was named the SBL's Most Improved Player and helped the Eagles win the championship. He then continued on with the Wildcats as a development player in 2014–15 before playing a third season with East Perth in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

College

The 2015–16 season saw Dech redshirt with the

. He returned to the Eagles for the 2016 season and then made his college debut with the Roadrunners in the 2016–17 season. In 28 games for the Roadrunners, he averaged 13.0 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game. Dech transferred to Barry University and joined the Buccaneers for the 2017–18 season to play his final season of eligibility. In 32 games, he averaged 13.3 points and a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game. He earned SSC All-Newcomer Team honours and was named in the SSC All-Tournament Team.

Professional

Following the 2017–18 U.S. college season, Dech returned to Australia to train with the Cairns Taipans and Brisbane Bullets. After a three-game stint with the Rockingham Flames at the back-end of the 2018 SBL season, Dech re-joined the Perth Wildcats for the

2018–19 NBL season The 2018–19 NBL season was the 41st season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams have contested the league. The regular season had been played between October 2018 and February 2019, followed ...

as a training player. He was later designated as Perth's nominated replacement player and filled in for the injured Damian Martin and Mitch Norton throughout the season. In March 2019, he was crowned a champion for the second time when the Wildcats defeated Melbourne United in the 2019 NBL Finals. Dech was subsequently awarded the Coaches' Award by head coach Trevor Gleeson. He went on to play in New Zealand during the off-season, where he helped the Wellington Saints win the NZNBL championship. On 9 April 2019, Dech signed a two-year deal with the Illawarra Hawks after being highly sought after as a free agent. 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 ...

saw Dech earn nominations for both the league's Most Improved Player and Best Defensive Player. His remaining contract with the Hawks was voided when the club was liquidated on 18 May 2020. Dech initially signed with the Southland Sharks before they withdrew prior to the start of the

2020 New Zealand NBL season The 2020 NBL season (officially known as the 2020 NBL Showdown) was the 39th season of the National Basketball League. The regular season was set to commence on Thursday 9 April and end on Sunday 12 July, with the finals then taking place betwe ...

. On 22 July 2020, Dech signed a three-year deal with the Adelaide 36ers. He built a reputation as one of the league's standout defenders during the 2020–21 NBL season. Following his first season with the 36ers, Dech played for the North Adelaide Rockets of NBL1 Central. He helped the Rockets win the championship while earning grand final MVP honours. Dech missed the start of the

2021–22 NBL season The 2021–22 NBL season was the 44th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams are contesting in the 2021–22 season, which commenced on 3 December 2021. Australian broadcast rights to the ...

with a

hematoma A hematoma, also spelled haematoma, or blood suffusion is a localized bleeding outside of blood vessels, due to either disease or trauma including injury or surgery and may involve blood continuing to seep from broken capillary, capillaries. A he ...

of his quad. For the season, he averaged 12.3 points, 2.43 assists, and 4.26 rebounds per game. Dech joined the

Canterbury Rams The Canterbury Rams are a New Zealand basketball team based in Christchurch. The Rams compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Cowles Stadium. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as The Wheeler Motor Can ...

for the

2022 New Zealand NBL season The 2022 NBL season is the 41st season of the National Basketball League. For the second year in a row, the league will field 10 teams, with the only changes being the rebrand of the Auckland Huskies to Auckland Tuatara and Taranaki Mountainairs ...

. Dech made his debut for the team on 8 May 2022 against the

Auckland Tuatara The Auckland Tuatara is a professional baseball team in the Australian Baseball League based in Auckland, New Zealand. They are the only team from New Zealand to compete in the ABL, and one of two expansion teams that entered the league i ...

. On 21 May 2022, Dech scored an NZNBL individual season-high 35 points in a loss to the Nelson Giants. On 29 April 2022, Dech signed a three-year contract extension with the 36ers. He was selected as a member of the 36ers' leadership group alongside teammates

Mitch McCarron Mitchell James Robert McCarron (born 30 June 1992) is an Australian professional basketball player who plays for the Adelaide 36ers of the National Basketball League (NBL). College career In 2010, McCarron attended the Australian Institute o ...

, Daniel Johnson and Robert Franks for the 2022–23 season.

National team

In 2022, Dech was selected to play for the South Sudanese national team in the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.

References

External links

Official websiteNBL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dech, Sunday 1994 births Living people Adelaide 36ers players Australian expatriate basketball people in New Zealand Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States Australian men's basketball players Australian people of South Sudanese descent Barry Buccaneers men's basketball players Canterbury Rams players Guards (basketball) Illawarra Hawks players Metro State Roadrunners men's basketball players Perth Wildcats players South Sudanese emigrants to Australia South Sudanese men's basketball players Wellington Saints players 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup players