Mark Worthington
Personal information | ||||||||||||
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Born | Bunbury, Western Australia | 8 June 1983|||||||||||
Nationality | Australian | |||||||||||
Listed height | 203 cm (6 ft 8 in) | |||||||||||
Listed weight | 107 kg (236 lb) | |||||||||||
Career information | ||||||||||||
High school | Australind Senior (Australind, Western Australia) | |||||||||||
College | Metro State (2001–2005) | |||||||||||
NBA draft | 2005: undrafted | |||||||||||
Playing career | 1999–2017 | |||||||||||
Position | Power forward / Small forward | |||||||||||
Coaching career | 2016–present | |||||||||||
Career history | ||||||||||||
As player: | ||||||||||||
1999–2002 | Bunbury Slammers | |||||||||||
2004 | Bunbury Slammers | |||||||||||
2005–2008 | Sydney Kings | |||||||||||
2008 | Bunbury Slammers | |||||||||||
2008–2009 | South Dragons | |||||||||||
2009–2010 | Melbourne Tigers | |||||||||||
2010 | Brose Baskets | |||||||||||
2010–2012 | Gold Coast Blaze | |||||||||||
2011 | Mets de Guaynabo | |||||||||||
2011 | Piratas de Quebradillas | |||||||||||
2012–2013 | Radnički Kragujevac | |||||||||||
2013–2015 | Melbourne Tigers/United | |||||||||||
2015–2017 | Cairns Taipans | |||||||||||
As coach: | ||||||||||||
2016–2017 | Cairns Dolphins | |||||||||||
2017–2018 | Loyola Marymount (asst.) | |||||||||||
2020– | South West Slammers men's team | |||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | ||||||||||||
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Medals
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Mark Worthington (born 8 June 1983) is an Australian former professional basketball player who played 11 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL). On 10 October 2013, he was named in the Sydney Kings 25th Anniversary Team.[1]
Early life
Born in Bunbury, Western Australia, Worthington grew up in the nearby town of Australind, where he attended Australind Primary School and Australind Senior High School.[2]
College career
Worthington started his career as a development player for the Cairns Taipans.[3] He then moved to the United States, where he played college basketball at the Metropolitan State College of Denver under coach Mike Dunlap from 2001 to 2005. He won the NABC Division II Player of the Year award in 2004–05.
Professional career
After a standout career at Metro State, Worthington made his debut with the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League, winning the NBL Rookie of the Year Award in 2005–06. He played three seasons with the Kings, before signing with the South Dragons for the 2008–09 season. He helped the Dragons win the NBL championship before they folded in 2009. He subsequently signed with the Melbourne Tigers for the 2009–10 season. In 2010, he had a stint with German team Brose Baskets.[4]
For the 2010–11 season, Worthington joined the Gold Coast Blaze. In 2011, he had stints with Puerto Rican teams Mets de Guaynabo and Piratas de Quebradillas, before returning to the Blaze for the 2011–12 season.
In July 2012, Worthington signed with Serbian team Radnički Kragujevac.[5] He suffered a season-ending injury in December 2012, forcing him to eventually leave Kragujevac in February 2013.[6] He played 14 games, averaging 10.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.
On 18 July 2013, Worthington signed with the Melbourne Tigers, returning to the club for a second stint.[7] In May 2014, the Tigers changed their name to United.
On 7 July 2015, Worthington signed a two-year deal with the Cairns Taipans.[8] On 13 January 2016, he played his 300th NBL game.[9] On 22 January 2017, Worthington announced his decision to retire at the end of the 2016–17 season.[10][11] His 335th and final NBL game came in the Taipans' game two semi-final loss to the Perth Wildcats on 20 February 2017 at Perth Arena.[12]
National team career
Worthington made his debut for the Australian national team in 2005 at the FIBA Oceania Championship. He has since played for them at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and four years later in London, as well as at the FIBA World Championship in 2006 and 2010.
Coaching career
In February 2016, Worthington was appointed head coach of QBL women's side, the Cairns Dolphins.[13] After two seasons with the Dolphins, Worthington spent the 2017–18 U.S. college season as an assistant coach with the Loyola Marymount Lions men's basketball team.[14] In October 2019, Worthington was appointed head coach of SBL men's side, the South West Slammers, for the 2020 season.[15]
Personal
Worthington's father, Greg, is a basketball coach who has been involved with the South West Slammers. His brother, Trent, played for many years with the Slammers' SBL team.[16]
Worthington and his wife, Andrea, have two sons, Taz and Axel.[17]
In August 2012, it was announced that Worthington was considering a switch to play Australian rules football for the West Coast Eagles. His uncle, Kevin Worthington played for the Collingwood, Claremont and Perth football clubs in the 1970s and 1980s.[18]
References
- ^ Sydney Kings 25th anniversary team honour heals the wounds for Shane
- ^ WORTHO RETURNS HOME BUT SIGNS WITH DRAGONS
- ^ Worthington retires, paving the way for young stars
- ^ Brose Baskets Bamberg nab Aussie Worthington
- ^ "Radnicki signs Mark Worthington". Sportando.com. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
- ^ Mark Worthington leaves Kragujevac
- ^ "FORMER TIGERS MVP RETURNS". NBL.com.au. 18 July 2013. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
- ^ WORTHINGTON SIGNS TWO-YEAR DEAL IN CAIRNS
- ^ MARK WORTHINGTON: LIVING THE DREAM
- ^ NBL veteran Worthington to retire
- ^ ANNOUNCEMENT: MARK WORTHINGTON
- ^ WILDCATS SEND OFF WORTHINGTON, ADVANCE TO GF
- ^ BASKETBALL: Worthington to coach Cairns Dolphins in QBL
- ^ Wortho bound for US coaching gig
- ^ "Basketball South West and the South West Slammers, we are excited to announce that Mark Worthington has been appointed the SBL Men's Coach for 2020". facebook.com. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
- ^ Season Preview - Collie Crane Hire Southwest Slammers
- ^ Mark Worthington set to mark 300 NBL games
- ^ Eagles eye off Boomer Worthington
External links
- Mark Worthington at taipans.com
- Mark Worthington at eurocupbasketball.com
- Mark Worthington at olympics.com.au
- "Coming Home" at nbl.com.au
- "Former NBL star comes up from down under" at laloyolan.com
- Mark Worthington on X
- Use dmy dates from August 2012
- 1983 births
- Living people
- ABA League players
- Australian expatriate basketball people in Germany
- Australian expatriate basketball people in Serbia
- Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States
- Australian men's basketball players
- Basketball players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
- Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
- Brose Bamberg players
- Cairns Taipans players
- Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia
- Commonwealth Games medallists in basketball
- Gold Coast Blaze players
- KK Radnički Kragujevac (2009–2014) players
- Loyola Marymount Lions men's basketball coaches
- Melbourne Tigers players
- Melbourne United players
- Metro State Roadrunners men's basketball players
- Olympic basketball players of Australia
- People from Bunbury, Western Australia
- Piratas de Quebradillas players
- Power forwards (basketball)
- Small forwards
- South Dragons players
- Sydney Kings players
- 2006 FIBA World Championship players
- 2010 FIBA World Championship players