Romaro Gill is set to again protect and rock the rims at ILT Stadium Southland, signing on for the Southland Sharks for a second season in the 2023 Sal’s New Zealand National Basketball League.
Jamaican-born Gill played for the Sharks last season, finishing the year as the League-leader in blocks and with the second-highest field goal percentage (59.7%) across all players last year.
The 2.18-metre giant, who has a Summer League stint with the LA Lakers along with time with the Toronto Raptors’ G League team on his impressive basketball resume, quickly endeared himself to southern fans, earning the club’s publicly-voted 2022 Fan Favourite award at its end-of-season awards.
Gill is looking forward to the season ahead and further developing his game under new Sharks’ Head Coach Guy Molloy.
“It’s so good to be back. I was thinking about it with my wife and there was nowhere that I could think of that felt more like home than Southland so I’m 110 percent happy to be back,” Gill said.
“The team this year has a lot of stuff to set straight from last year that we didn’t accomplish, and I feel confident in the guys that are coming back. We have a lot we have to prove and I’m looking forward to getting back down to play in front of all our awesome fans and the community that made me feel so welcome last year,” he said.
Molloy said the decision to recruit Gill was an easy one.
“I was sold on Romaro from our first conversation. He clearly is of outstanding character and wants nothing but the best for the Club and his teammates. As we know, his shot blocking ability is second to none, and he will be an important leader of our defence and rebounding,” Molloy said.
Gill is the first of up to three import or restricted players that each NBL franchise can select. It is expected two additional overseas players will be announced to join the 2023 squad over the next week.
The Southland Sharks open its 2023 Sal’s NBL campaign on Good Friday (April 7) at 7:00pm against the Manawatu Jets at ILT Stadium Southland in Invercargill. Season tickets to all nine home games are on sale now from Stadium reception with individual game tickets available from next month.
