Thomas James Vodanovich (born 28 July 1994) is a New Zealand professional basketball player for the

Wellington Saints The Wellington Saints are a New Zealand basketball team based in Wellington. The Saints compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at TSB Bank Arena. Team history The Wellington Saints were founded in 1981. In 1 ...

of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL). He is also contracted with the New Zealand Breakers of 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 ...

in the United States for the

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between 2013 and 2017 before having a two-year stint with the Breakers. He joined 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 ...

in 2021 and won an NBL championship in 2022. In 2020, he was named the New Zealand NBL MVP playing for the

Manawatu Jets The Manawatu Jets are a New Zealand basketball team based in Palmerston North. The Jets compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Central Energy Trust Arena. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the Pro ...

Early life

Vodanovich was born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

and attended St Patrick's College. In

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, he made his debut in the New Zealand NBL when he played 37 seconds for the

against the

Southland Sharks The Southland Sharks are a New Zealand basketball team based in Invercargill. The Sharks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Stadium Southland. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the SBS Bank So ...

on 22 March. In January 2013, Vodanovich moved to the United States to attend prep school at SPIRE Institute in

Geneva, Ohio Geneva is a city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. The area which would become Geneva was originally settled in 1805, and was incorporated as a city in 1958. It is named after Geneva, New York, Geneva, New York (state), New York. The pop ...

. He played for the basketball programme through to the spring break and averaged 18.5 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks per game.

College career

In April 2013, Vodanovich committed to attending James Madison University in

Harrisonburg, Virginia Harrisonburg is an independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is also the county seat of the surrounding Rockingham County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. At the 2 ...

. As a freshman with the

Dukes Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...

in 2013–14, Vodanovich averaged 21.1 minutes per game to go with 4.1 points and 4.1 rebounds. He recorded two games of scoring in double-figures and four games of eight or more rebounds. He became the first freshman to lead JMU in points in a season opener since 2008 with 11 against

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. As a sophomore in 2014–15, Vodanovich played 29 games with 21 starts and averaged 22.8 minutes per game to go with 5.4 points and 4.0 rebounds. He reached double-digit scoring five times and grabbed at least six rebounds eight times. He scored a career-high 18 points in win over Drexel on 18 February 2015. As a junior in 2015–16, Vodanovich started all 31 games he appeared in and averaged career highs of 6.2 points and 4.4 rebounds in 24.7 minutes per game. He scored a season-high 17 points against

UNCW The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW or UNC Wilmington) is a Public university, public research university in Wilmington, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina System and enrolls 17,499 undergraduate and gr ...

on 13 February 2016. As a senior in 2016–17, Vodanovich played 29 games with 18 starts and averaged 6.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 20.4 minutes per game. He recorded a career-high 13 rebounds in a win against Longwood on 3 December 2016. He went on to match his career high for points with 18 in a loss against Western Michigan a week later. Vodanovich graduated from James Madison with a degree in Sports and Recreation Management.

Professional career

In December 2017, Vodanovich signed with the

for the

2018 New Zealand NBL season The 2018 NBL season was the 37th season of the National Basketball League. In 2018, the league welcomed back the Manawatu Jets after a two-season hiatus. The regular season commenced on Thursday 26 April in Napier with the Hawke's Bay Hawks h ...

. He helped the Sharks reach the NBL final, where they defeated the

98–96 to win the championship. In 20 games, he averaged 7.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. In August 2018, Vodanovich joined the New Zealand Breakers as a development player 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 ...

. He made one appearance for the Breakers during the season. Vodanovich returned to the Sharks in

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 ...

and averaged 12.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, including recording 23 points and seven rebounds in the Sharks' semi-final loss to the Saints. In July 2019, Vodanovich signed a one-year deal with the Breakers to join the full-time squad for 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 ...

. He appeared in 23 games and averaged 1.9 points and 1.1 assists per game. Vodanovich was initially set to re-join the Sharks in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the planned 2020 season was initially suspended and then modified into a small-scale, quick-fire format. As a result, the Sharks declined to enter the rejigged competition. Vodanovich was subsequently acquired by the

and went on to claim the

New Zealand NBL Most Valuable Player Award The National Basketball League Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given since the 2003 New Zealand NBL season to the best performing player of the regular season. At the end of each season, the player w ...

as well as All-Star Five honours. He then went on to lead the Jets to the NBL final, where they lost 79–77 to the

Otago Nuggets The Otago Nuggets are a New Zealand basketball team based in Dunedin. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Edgar Centre. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the Night 'n Day Otago ...

despite Vodanovich's game-high 24 points. In 16 games, he averaged 22.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game. On 18 September 2020, Vodanovich signed with BBC Telstar Hesper of the

Total League The Nationale 1 Hommes, officially named the Luxembourgish Basketball League (formerly known as the Total League), is the highest men's basketball league in Luxembourg. The league's governing body is Fédération Luxembourgeoise de Basketball ( ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

. He appeared in three games for Telstar before their season was cut short due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On 2 January 2021, Vodanovich signed with the

of the Australian NBL as an injury replacement for

Xavier Cooks Xavier Cooks (born 19 August 1995) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the Winthrop Eagles, where he was named the 2018 Big South Confe ...

. In 36 games during the 2020–21 season, he averaged 5.0 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. He then joined the

Auckland Huskies The Auckland Tuatara are a semi-professional basketball team based in Auckland, New Zealand. The Tuatara compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Eventfinda Stadium. Founded in Tasmania in 2019 as the Southe ...

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 compete. ...

. On 27 June 2021, Vodanovich re-signed with the Kings for 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 ...

. He helped the Kings win the NBL championship and then joined the Wellington Saints 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 ...

. On 29 May 2022, Vodanovich signed a two-year deal with the New Zealand Breakers, returning to the franchise for a second stint. He helped the Breakers reach the grand final series in

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

. Following the NBL season, he had a one-game stint with

Converge FiberXers The Converge FiberXers are a professional basketball team owned by Converge ICT. The team competes in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The franchise began after acquiring the former Alaska Aces franchise on March 23, 2022. History ...

of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

(PBA) and then re-joined the Wellington Saints for the

2023 New Zealand NBL season The 2023 NBL season was the 42nd season of the National Basketball League. For the third year in a row, the league fielded 10 teams. The regular season commenced on 6 April in Pukekohe, with the Franklin Bulls hosting the Hawke's Bay Hawks at Fr ...

National team career

In 2012, Vodanovich played for the Junior Tall Blacks at the

FIBA Oceania Under-18 Championship The FIBA Oceania Under-17 Championship is an under-17 basketball championship in the International Basketball Federation's FIBA Oceania zone. Since 2017, the competition previously known as FIBA Oceania Under-18 Championship, which was a quali ...

and the

Albert Schweitzer Tournament The Albert Schweitzer Tournament (AST) is an international basketball competition that is played between national basketball teams of the Under-18 men age category. It takes place every two years in Mannheim, Germany, and is contested between t ...

. He made his debut for the

Tall Blacks The New Zealand men's national basketball team is the senior men's national basketball team of New Zealand. The team is nicknamed the Tall Blacks. The ''Tall Blacks'' name is one of many New Zealand national team nicknames related to the All ...

in 2018.

Personal life

Vodanovich and his partner Jade have a daughter.

References

External links

NBL profileJames Madison Dukes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vodanovich, Tom 1994 births Living people Auckland Huskies players Converge FiberXers players James Madison Dukes men's basketball players Manawatu Jets players New Zealand Breakers players New Zealand expatriate basketball people in the Philippines New Zealand expatriate basketball people in the United States New Zealand men's basketball players People educated at St. Patrick's College, Wellington Philippine Basketball Association imports Power forwards (basketball) Southland Sharks players Sportspeople from Wellington City Sydney Kings players Wellington Saints players