Writing and photographs by Dean Andrews

On Thursday 15 February point guard Kelly Wilson will create history by becoming the first player in league history to play 450 WNBL games, reaching the significant milestone in Bendigo Spirit’s road game against UC Capitals at Southern Cross Stadium.

Kelly Wilson commenced her basketball journey in Gippsland playing junior basketball at the Leongatha Basketball Association. Wilson progressed through the Victoria Country programs with power forward/centre Gabe Richards. At 18 years of age Wilson made her WNBL debut for the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) on 12 October 2002. Playing for the AIS in 2002/03 Wilson won the league’s Betty Watson Rookie of the Year Award.

From 2002/03 to 2019/20 Wilson played 18 consecutive WNBL seasons and late in the 2019/20 season with Bendigo Spirit Kelly played her 395^th WNBL game, breaking Jessica Bibby’s record for the most games played in the league. Wilson has played on four WNBL Championship winning teams, 2012/13 and 2013/14 with Bendigo Spirit followed by 2017/18 with Townsville Fire and 2018/19 with the UC Capitals. Kelly’s younger sister and fellow guard Andrea, point guard Kristi Harrower and front court players Kelsey Griffin and Gabe Richards were teammates on both WNBL Championships with Bendigo. Griffin was also a teammate on the UC Capitals 2018/19 WNBL Championship.

Wilson missed the 2020 WNBL season as she was pregnant, son Ted was born in February 2021. In 2021/22 Wilson returned to the WNBL and has been teammates with Griffin for the past three seasons comprised of one season at the UC Capitals followed by two seasons with Bendigo Spirit. Playing for the UC Capitals in January 2022 Wilson became the first player in league history to play 400 WNBL games. 25 months later 40 year old Wilson is set to become the first player in league history to reach 450 games. Wilson’s record breaking 449 WNBL games is comprised of 243 games for Bendigo Spirit, 103 games for Townsville Fire, 43 games for Sydney Flames, 42 games for University of Canberra Capitals and 18 games for the Australian Institute of Sport.

Kelly Wilson bringing the ball up the court for Bendigo Spirit against Townsville Fire on 7 January  2024 at Geelong Arena

Wilson has been durable throughout her WNBL career and has played at least 16 games in each of her 21 seasons in the league. From 2007/08 to 2018/19 Wilson played more than 20 games in 11 of her 12 seasons. The only exception during this time was when Wilson was on the sidelines for more than a month and a half in 2016/17 due to a fractured left ankle. Wilson played 16 games for Townsville Fire in 2016/17 and after returning from her ankle injury in January won the WNBL’s Round 18 Player of the Week Award in February.

The 2023/24 season with Bendigo is the eighth WNBL season that Wilson and Griffin have been teammates comprised of six seasons at Bendigo and two seasons for the UC Capitals. Both players will achieve milestones in the Spirit’s road game against the UC Capitals on 15 February with Wilson becoming the first player to reach 450 WNBL games and Griffin playing her 150^th club game for Bendigo. Given the impact Wilson and Griffin have made on the league and each other whilst playing as teammates it is fitting that they will share significant milestones with each other.  

In January 2020 Griffin told WNBL Media “I owe a lot of my career, if not all my professional career, to Kelly and the kind of person and player she is. She was one of my team mates on the first Bendigo team I played for when I was ready to retire and because of the calibre person and genuine competitor she is that really made me fall in love with the game again. The more I played with her and got to know her our friendship just grew and I feel so lucky to have played a small part in her amazing career.

Being able to play with her again at Canberra last year and really appreciate everything she brings to the game – her basketball IQ, passing ability and selflessness – to get to live with her and build more memories in our friendship, I feel so incredibly fortunate to play alongside her and call her my best friend.”1

Kelly Wilson and teammates after Bendigo Spirit had defeated Melbourne Boomers on 30 December 2023 at Melbourne Sports Centres Parkville 

For much of 170 centimetre tall Wilson’s first stint with Bendigo Spirit she was utilised effectively as a spot up three-point shooter with Harrower being Bendigo’s primary ball handler. In five consecutive WNBL seasons playing for Bendigo Spirit from 2009/10 to 2013/14 Wilson ranked in the league’s top 15 for three-pointers made per game including ranking third in 2012/13 with a career-high 1.9 three-pointers made per game.  

In her 12^th WNBL season Wilson averaged 4.0 assists per game in 2013/14 to rank seventh in the league, Bendigo teammate Harrower led the league with 8.1 assists per game. It was the first time in her WNBL career that Wilson had averaged more than 3.0 assists per game and ranked in the league’s top 10 in this category. At the end of Harrower’s last WNBL season with Bendigo Spirit in 2014/15 teammate Wilson had played 285 games and had 704 assists in her career at an average of 2.47 assists per game. Wilson needed exactly 800 assists to overtake Harrower’s tally of 1,503 assists.

In nine consecutive WNBL seasons from 2013/14 to 2022/23 Wilson averaged at least 4.0 assists per game and ranked in the league’s top 10 in this category. Twice Wilson led the WNBL for assists per game, making 5.5 assists per game for Bendigo in 2015/16 and 6.2 assists per game for the UC Capitals in 2018/19. On 10 November 2023 in her 21^st season in the league Wilson recorded the 1,500^th assist of her career, becoming the third person in league history to reach this milestone, joining Kristen Veal (1,617 assists) and Harrower (1,503). A week later Wilson playing for Bendigo against Perth at Bendat Basketball Centre on Friday night 17 November increased her career assists tally to 1,504 with her fourth assist of the game. WNBL games-record holder Wilson moved up to second place on the WNBL’s All-Time career assists list, overtaking former Bendigo Spirit teammate Harrower, a feat that would have been considered extremely unlikely when Harrower retired.

During her 449 game WNBL career Wilson has made 1,550 assists in 449 games at an average of 3.45 assists per game. In addition to holding the WNBL’s game record and ranking second on the All-Time assists list Wilson ranks in the top 10 in a couple of other categories. Wilson ranks ninth for career three-pointers in the WNBL with 405 and ranks ninth on the league’s All-Time steals list with 433.

At state league level Wilson has won a regular season Most Valuable Player Award four times. Playing for the Mackay Meteorettes in 2008 Wilson won the Queensland Australian Basketball League (QABL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award. In the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) Wilson won the league MVP Award twice – in 2009 with the Bendigo Lady Braves and in 2013 with the Knox Raiders. During the inaugural NBL1 season in 2019 Wilson won the league’s MVP Award playing for the Bendigo Lady Braves. Wilson played in two SEABL Championship winning teams, with Knox Raiders in 2013 and with the Bendigo Lady Braves in 2018.

After Wilson signed with the Bendigo Braves for the 2022 NBL1 South season Head Coach Mark Alabakov commented to nbl1.com.au “Kelly has not only been one of the best, most storied, and winningest point guards in the history of Australian basketball, but her name has been synonymous with Bendigo basketball and the success we’ve had at the elite level here. She’s thoughtful, a joy to work with, and is first-class on and off the court. Her leadership, basketball IQ, and embodiment of winning habits will be a massive asset to our team and will enhance the quality of everything we do.”2

In 2023 Wilson was the starting point guard on the Bendigo Braves team coached by Alabakov. In June 2023 Basketball Victoria announced that the NBL1 South Women’s Golden Hands Award was being re-named the ‘Kelly Wilson Golden Hands Award’. Wilson played a brilliant NBL1 South season in 2023 to be selected in the Conference’s All-Star 5 and fittingly she was the first person to win the ‘Kelly Wilson Golden Hands Award’ after it was renamed in her honour. The Bendigo Braves went undefeated throughout the 2023 NBL1 season to win the NBL1 South Championship and the NBL1 National Finals.

The last sentence of Wilson’s profile in the 2012/13 WNBL Media Guide said “Kelly’s best piece of advice is ‘make the most of your opportunities and always enjoy yourself!’”3 Wilson has well and truly followed her own advice for the past decade plus. On SEN’s The Run Home with Andy & Gazey episode on 9 February 2024 Wilson commented on her longevity “I don’t think there is a secret, I did say to someone yesterday that there must be an element of you have to enjoy what you are doing, no-one is going to stick around and play this many games if they don’t enjoy what they are doing. I love the sport of basketball, I love playing and I still can so why not.”

Kelly Wilson’s incredible basketball career is comprehensively covered below, from progressing through the Basketball Victoria pathway to playing in the WNBL and at state league level in the SEABL and NBL1.

Early life and junior career

Kelly Wilson was born in Melbourne on 1 January 1984 and grew up in the Victorian country town of Leongatha, which is located in Gippsland, approximately 135 kilometres south-east of Melbourne. Kelly has a sister Andrea who is 23 months younger and has been a teammate of Kelly’s at State League level with the Bendigo Lady Braves in the SEABL and NBL1 and in the WNBL with Bendigo Spirit.

Kelly and Andrea Wilson played their junior basketball at the Leongatha Basketball Association. The Kelly Wilson Award is presented to the most promising junior player at the Leongatha Basketball Association with one player each nominated from the under 16 girls, under 16 boys, under 18 girls and under 18 boys.

In a Pathway / Kelly Wilson, Bendigo Spirit video published by Basketball Victoria in 2016 Wilson commented “I first started playing basketball when I was about 10 years old and the only reason I went and started playing was because my friends were playing and I didn’t want to miss out, turns out I liked it a lot more than they did. I really enjoyed basketball and stuck with it and I started trying out for things and worked my way through the Victoria Country programs, so the ITC program and I played in the Vic Country state teams all the way through my junior years, from there I progressed to the AIS and then started playing WNBL.” One of Wilson’s teammates in the Vic Country Under 14’s was Gabe Richards and the duo went on to become long-term teammates at several levels of competition – juniors, WNBL and at state league level in the SEABL and NBL1.

At national under age championships Kelly Wilson represented Victoria Country between 1999 and 2002. Wilson was a member of Victoria’s gold medal winning team at the under 20 national championships in 2002 and 2003. Wilson won the R.E Staunton Medal as the Most Valuable Player at the 2003 tournament.

During SEN’s The Run Home with Andy & Gazey on 9 February 2024 Andy Maher asked “Do you remember the game or the moment in your basketball journey where a light went off and you thought ‘I could be pretty good at this game?” Wilson responded “No, not necessarily. I think as a young kid I definitely didn’t have the ideal prototype body for a basketballer, I wasn’t that tall, long, lean athletic physique so I knew early on that I had to work really, really hard and find something in myself that separated me from other players. I think just always having to prove myself and have a work ethic that is probably better than a lot of my competitors is kind of what set me up for my career.”  

WNBL career from 2002/03 to 2007/08

At 18 years of age Wilson made her WNBL debut with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) on 12 October 2002 in a road game against Dandenong Rangers at Dandenong Stadium. Wilson’s AIS teammates in her debut game included Gabe Richards, Hollie Florance (nee Grima), Hanna Zavecz, Lauren King, Zoe Carr and Eva Afeaki. On debut Wilson scored 11 points, took six rebounds and made an equal team-high four assists along with King.

In an AIS home game at the AIS Training Hall on 22 November 2002 Wilson scored a game-high 24 points, took three rebounds and made three assist in a 79-85 loss to Sydney. Wilson made eight of 18 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 44.4% and made seven of nine free throws at an accuracy of 77.8%.

In a WNBL video Here comes Kelly Wilson Round 10 published in December 2015 Wilson commented on her debut WNBL season “I actually don’t remember my first game at all, I remember my first season with the AIS. I certainly remember a few games getting beaten by a lot of points by some of the more established clubs in the WNBL but that experience for me was huge. I was so excited to be playing in the WNBL against my idols who I had watched on the TV in years previous.”

The AIS had four wins, 17 losses, a percentage of 85.04% and finished last out of eight teams in 2002/03. Wilson played 18 games for the AIS during 2002/03 and averaged 9.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game. In her debut season Wilson made a significant impact to rank 13^th in the WNBL for assists per game and won the league’s 2002/03 Betty Watson Rookie of the Year Award.

Wilson joined the Sydney Uni Flames for the 2003/04 WNBL season and was part of the Flames team coached by Karen Dalton that finished second on the ladder in 2003/04 and third on the ladder in 2004/05.

One of Wilson’s teammates in both seasons at Sydney was fellow South Gippsland product Belinda Snell. Trish Fallon was a Sydney Flames teammate in 2004/05. In both seasons Sydney progressed to the Grand Final at Dandenong Stadium and were defeated by the Dandenong Rangers in low scoring encounters, 53-63 in 2003/04 and 47-52 in 2004/05. In two seasons with the Sydney Uni Flames Wilson played 43 games and averaged 4.1 points, 1.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 0.7 steals per game.

In an article written by Roy Ward and published in The Sydney Morning Herald on 11 December 2015 Wilson reflected on her time with the Flames, commenting “In Sydney I was playing with people like Belinda Snell and Trish Fallon and I was still learning how to train and from how they handled themselves. When I first went to the institute I was still a girl and found it hard to compete with the older players so I guess it was learning how to use your size and strengths to your advantage. It’s not necessarily all about speed and stuff like that but basketball smarts as well – that’s something the older players taught me.”4

From 2005/06 to 2007/08 Wilson played three seasons and 62 games for the Townsville Fire, playing her 100^th WNBL game at 23 years of age late in the 2006/07 season. Rohanee Cox and Jennifer Crouse were teammates of Wilson’s in all three seasons at Townsville and Claudia Brassard and Rachael McCully (nee Flanagan) were both teammates in 2005/06 and 2006/07. Townsville Fire played their inaugural WNBL season in 2001/02 with David Herbert as their Head Coach. Herbert coached the Fire for their first six seasons in the WNBL which included Wilson’s first two seasons with the club. Peter Buckle was appointed Townsville’s Head Coach for 2007/08.

In all three seasons from 2005/06 to 2007/08 Townsville had at least 10 wins, finished in sixth place and missed the finals. Wilson averaged a then career-high 10.6 points per game in 2005/06 and then equalled this mark two seasons later in 2007/08. During 62 games for Townsville Fire from 2005/06 to 2007/08 Wilson averaged 9.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.0 steals per game.

Playing in state leagues from 2001 to 2008

From 2001 to 2008 Wilson played in three different state leagues, the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL), the Waratah League in New South Wales and the Queensland Australian Basketball League (QABL). Wilson played in the SEABL for Nunawading in 2001 and 2002. In 2003 and 2004 Wilson played in the Waratah League, representing Sydney Comets in the earlier season and Sutherland Sharks in the latter season. After two state league seasons in New South Wales Wilson returned to Victoria and played in the SEABL for the Bendigo Braves in 2005. 

Playing for Townsville Flames in the 2006 Queensland Australian Basketball League season Wilson won the league’s Sunstate Division Under 23 Youth Player of the Year Award. Wilson joined the Mackay Meteorettes in 2008, won the league’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award and was named in the All League team. In 2008 Wilson averaged 27.9 points per game for Mackay to be the leading scorer in the QABL.  

WNBL career with Bendigo Spirit from 2008/09 to 2015/16

In early 2007 a team based in country Victoria, Bendigo Spirit were granted a license to join the WNBL and played their inaugural season in the league in 2007/08. Bendigo local Bernie Harrower was the Head Coach of the Bendigo Lady Braves in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) from the mid 1990’s onwards and played a pivotal role in Bendigo Spirit being given a WNBL license. Bernie’s daughter Kristi was born in Bendigo, is one of Australia’s greatest ever basketball players and at the time the Spirit joined the WNBL had won silver medals with the Australian Opals at both the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games, a gold medal at the 2006 World Championships and had played in the WNBL, WNBA and Europe. Bernie Harrower was appointed Bendigo Spirit’s inaugural WNBL coach.

Kelly’s younger sister Andrea made her WNBL debut with Bendigo Spirit in the club’s inaugural 2007/08 season. Kelly’s under 14’s Victoria Country teammate Gabe Richards joined Bendigo Spirit for the 2007/08 WNBL season. In the club’s first ever WNBL game at the Bendigo Schweppes Centre the Spirit defeated the Dandenong Rangers 87-66 with Kristi Harrower and Gabe Richards each scoring more than 20 points and taking at least 10 rebounds to be the top two ranked players in the game in both categories. Due to commitments with UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia it was the only game that Kristi played for Bendigo in 2007/08. In their debut WNBL season Bendigo Spirit had 10 wins and 14 losses to finish seventh at the end of the 2007/08 regular season out of 10 clubs.

Kelly joined Andrea at Bendigo Spirit for the club’s second WNBL season and played eight consecutive seasons for the club from 2008/09 to 2015/16. In a Pathway / Kelly Wilson, Bendigo Spirit video published by Basketball Victoria in 2016 Wilson commented “When I was growing up there was no national league teams in country Victoria, so even just now for the juniors working their way up, the fact that there is a national league program in country Victoria is a really exciting prospect for them.”

“When I left the Institute the Spirit didn’t exist then and I ended up playing in Sydney, that was a great experience but when I had the opportunity to come back closer to home and be in country Victoria I jumped at the chance.”

Kelly and Andrea Wilson’s teammates at Bendigo Spirit in 2008/09 included point guard Kristi Harrower and power forward/centre Gabe Richards. After playing in Europe Kristi Harrower had returned for her first WNBL season since playing for the Melbourne Tigers in 1999/2000. From 1991 to 1999/2000 Harrower had played 10 consecutive seasons in the WNBL.

Bendigo Spirit made the WNBL finals for the first time in 2008/09. Canadian import forward Chelsea Aubrey joined Bendigo Spirit in 2009/10. In their first two seasons playing in the WNBL finals Bendigo were defeated in an elimination final in 2008/09 and 2009/10. With Kristi Harrower playing as Bendigo’s point guard Kelly Wilson mainly played as a shooting guard and made an impact as a perimeter shooter. In 2009/10 Wilson made 1.7 three-pointers a game for Bendigo – ranked eighth in the league. Harrower averaged 23.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game for Bendigo in 2009/10 and won the WNBL’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award.

Bendigo Spirit recorded their first finals victory in a 2010/11 semi final, defeating Logan 74-53. Bendigo lost to Canberra 78-83 in a preliminary final. Wilson was one of six players at Bendigo in 2011/12 that played more than 500 minutes court-time for the season along with Harrower, Richards, Tess Madgen, Deanna Black (nee Smith) and Aubrey. No other Spirit player had more than 300 minutes court-time for the season. After three consecutive finals appearances Bendigo finished sixth in 2011/12 with a record of 12 wins and 10 losses, finishing one win behind Townsville and Sydney who finished fourth and fifth respectively and played each other in an elimination final.

The quartet of Wilson, Harrower, Richards and Aubrey all suited up for Bendigo again in 2012/13 however the players that ranked first and second for the Spirit in 2011/12 for scoring departed with Madgen joining the Bulleen (now Melbourne) Boomers and Black joining the West Coast Waves (now Perth Lynx). Bendigo wanted their second import to complete their starting line-up for 2012/13, however received a set-back when the player recruited to fill this role – Kathleen Scheer had to be cut by Bendigo after the WNBL pre-season tournament due to a recurring left knee injury.

With only one import in their line-up Bendigo started the 2012/13 WNBL season in brilliant fashion to set a club record and won their first six games of the season. The Spirit had thrived in pressure situations to win all three games decided by three points or less.

After receiving a phone call from Chelsea Aubrey, forward Kelsey Griffin joined Bendigo a third of the way into the 2012/13 WNBL season as the Spirit’s second import. Aubrey and Griffin had played two seasons of college basketball as teammates for University of Nebraska Huskers in the United States of America. The Spirit had a record of six wins and one loss when Griffin joined the club. Griffin’s first game for Bendigo was in a road victory against Sydney on 16 November 2012. Griffin fitted seamlessly into an extremely strong Bendigo starting line-up with fellow front-court players Richards and Aubrey alongside guards Wilson and Harrower. In addition to the starters another four players averaged at least 9.0 minutes per game – Renae Garlepp (nee Camino), Maddie Garrick, Hayley Munro and Chantella Perera. Kelly’s younger sister Andrea continued her role as a back-up guard.

Bendigo finished on top of the WNBL ladder at the end of the 2012/13 regular season with 21 wins and three losses. In a semi final against Dandenong Rangers at Bendigo Stadium the Spirit trailed Dandenong by 10 points at half-time, 34-44. During the third quarter Wilson made four three-pointers to gain the ascendancy for Bendigo who outscored Dandenong 24-9 for the quarter and went on to win 78-71 to qualify for their first WNBL Grand Final. All of Wilson’s shot attempts for the semi final were from long range and she was extremely effective as a spot-up three-point shooter, scoring a game-high 21 points, making seven of 14 three-pointers at an accuracy of 50% and made a game-high three steals. Wilson made more three-pointers than the rest of the players in the game combined which highlights the significant impact she made from long range. Excluding Wilson Bendigo and Dandenong combined made five three-pointers from 25 attempts at an accuracy of 20%. 

Bendigo hosted the club’s first ever WNBL Grand Final on 10 March 2013 against Townsville Fire at Bendigo Stadium. Bendigo led 19-12 at quarter time and went on to defeat Townsville Fire 71-57 to win the Spirit’s first WNBL championship in the club’s sixth season. Wilson scored nine points and had an equal game-high five assists along with Harrower. Griffin registered a double-double comprised of 20 points and a game-high 11 rebounds to win the Rachael Sporn medal as Grand Final MVP. Griffin was the game’s equal high scorer along with front court teammate Richards.

During the 2012/13 WNBL season Wilson played all 26 games for Bendigo and averaged 10.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. In the 2012/13 WNBL season Wilson made a career-high 49 three-pointers at an accuracy of 35.3% and just over half her made field goals were from long range, making a total of 95 field goals for the season. Wilson made 1.9 three-pointers per game – ranked third in the WNBL. In her first five seasons with Bendigo Spirit from 2008/09 to 2012/13 Wilson played 118 games and averaged 8.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 0.7 steals per game.

Bendigo Spirit’s five starters from 2012/13 – Wilson, Harrower, Richards, Griffin and Aubrey all returned for the 2013/14 season. In the off-season Bendigo recruited Elyse Penaluna from the Melbourne Boomers and Sara Blicavs from Dandenong to strengthen their roster. These seven players each averaged more than 20 minutes per game in 2013/14. Another four players averaged between 6.0 and 9.5 minutes per game – Garrick, Heather Oliver, Tessa Lavey and Perera.

In an 84-81 road victory against the Canberra Capitals on 3 January at AIS Arena Wilson scored an equal team-high 18 points, took five rebounds and made four assists. Wilson shot the ball proficiently to make six of 10 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 60% and was even more accurate from long range, making four of six three-pointers at 66.7%.

Twice in the regular season Wilson made a game-high nine assists in a game, in a 77-54 home victory against Sydney on 15 December at Bendigo Stadium and in an 85-67 road victory against the Dandenong Rangers at Dandenong Stadium on 8 February. 

Bendigo won the minor premiership for the second season in a row in 2013/14, having a regular season record of 22 wins and two losses, six wins ahead of the second placed Dandenong Rangers and Townsville Fire in third position. Bendigo continued their dominance over Dandenong to win their semi final 71-62 at Bendigo Stadium and qualified for their second Grand Final in a row. Wilson scored 14 points in the semi final, ranked equal second for Bendigo with Harrower, behind Griffin with a game-high 19 points. Townsville won a thrilling preliminary final against Dandenong 74-71 at Dandenong Stadium.

With the 2013/14 Grand Final being hosted by Bendigo against a visiting Townsville Fire outfit that had won the season split between the two clubs 2-1 the expectations were that it would be a closer Grand Final than the previous season. This was exactly how it played out with Bendigo leading by only two points at three-quarter time. Bendigo scored the opening nine points of the final quarter to set up an 11 point victory over Townsville to win back to back WNBL championships. In the Grand Final Wilson scored 14 points, made six of 10 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 60.0% and made four assists, ranked second at Bendigo behind Harrower with nine. Bendigo forward Griffin scored 28 points and took 15 rebounds to set game-highs in both categories and won the Rachael Sporn medal as Grand Final MVP for the second season in a row.

During 2013/14 Wilson set a new career-high of 4.0 assists per game, surpassing her previous best of 2.7 assists per game in 2012/13. Wilson had the most accurate long range shooting season of her WNBL career in 2013/14, having a three-point accuracy of 42.5%. Kelly made 31 of 73 three-pointers and among players that made at least 15 three-pointers for the season ranked fifth for accuracy. In 2013/14 Harrower led the WNBL with 8.1 assists per game and Wilson ranked seventh with 4.0 assists per game. 

During the WNBL video Here comes Kelly Wilson Round 10 published on 11 December 2015 Wilson commented “The biggest highlights in my WNBL career was certainly the back-to-back championships we won here at the Bendigo Stadium (in 2012/13 and 2013/14), extremely proud to be a part of those two teams and it is something that I will remember forever.”

Bendigo again retained most of their core including all five starters for the 2014/15 season. Wilson was joined at Bendigo by another player that grew up in Gippsland, three-time Olympian Belinda Snell. Kristi Harrower had a reduced playing role in 2014/15 with her primary role being that of Assistant Coach. Harrower played 10 games for Bendigo until early January and averaged 15.2 minutes and 2.9 assists per game. In early January 2015 Harrower announced that she was 16 weeks pregnant and was retiring from basketball immediately.

During Series 2, Episode 13 of Basket Case podcast Shame it’s not on telly published on 7 January 2016 Wilson spoke about being a teammate of Harrower’s for an extended time at Bendigo Spirit, saying “I feel really privileged to have played with Kristi for so long, I actually never really played a game against her because my entire time at the Spirit was the years that she was there. So for me to get to train and learn from her everyday was a huge benefit for me, I learnt a lot from her and Bernie as well.” 

In the 2014/15 regular season Bendigo had 15 wins and seven losses to finish second on the ladder two wins behind Townsville Fire. In the first two and a half quarters of Bendigo’s home preliminary final against Sydney at Bendigo Stadium on 1 March 2015 Wilson scored 14 points and Bendigo led the Flames 59-56 with four minutes and 28 seconds remaining in the third quarter. In the remainder of the game Wilson lifted her scoring output even higher to score all of Bendigo’s 11 points in the last four minutes and 28 seconds of the third quarter, single-handedly outscoring Sydney 11-6 during this time to extend the Spirit’s lead to 70-62 at the final change. During this purple patch Wilson scored one three pointer, two two point jump shots and four free-throws. In the last quarter Wilson added another seven points to her tally in a Bendigo 85-77 victory against Sydney. Wilson was phenomenal, scoring a game-high 32 points at a field goal accuracy of 57% and was even more damaging from long range, making five of eight three-pointers at an accuracy of 62% in a match-winning performance. In the victory Wilson also made all seven free-throws and had five assists – ranked second at Bendigo behind Griffin with six. The second ranked players in the game scored 17 points each and Wilson made more three-pointers than all other players in the game combined, five to four which highlights just how dominant Kelly was in a sublime shooting exhibition.

After the game Bendigo Spirit Head Coach Bernie Harrower commented on Wilson’s incredible performance against Sydney “I take my hat off to her, she’s copped a bit of criticism off me over the years for not being aggressive enough. Today after the game I made the comment that was Kristi Harrower-like, she put the team on her back and carried us home, and those are the things Kristi used to do. I wouldn’t hesitate to say that was Kelly’s best ever game in the WNBL and I couldn’t be more proud of her.”5

Bendigo met Townsville in the Grand Final for the third season in a row however the Fire hosted the 2015 edition at Townsville RSL Stadium. Bendigo led the Grand Final by two points at quarter-time however a dominant 26-16 second quarter gained Townsville the ascendancy and they went to win the club’s first ever WNBL championship 75-65. In the Grand Final Wilson scored nine points, took four rebounds and made a team-high five assists. Wilson averaged 4.9 assists per game in 2014/15 – ranked fourth in the league.

2014/15 was the eighth and final season that Bernie Harrower was the Head Coach of Bendigo Spirit. During this time Bendigo made the finals in six seasons and won back-to-back WNBL Championships in 2012/13 and 2013/14. Simon Pritchard was appointed Bendigo Spirit’s Head Coach for 2015/16.

Spirit teammate Griffin became an Australian citizen in November 2015. Wilson played her 300^th WNBL game in a home game against the Melbourne Boomers at Bendigo Stadium on 12 December 2015. During the WNBL video Here comes Kelly Wilson Round 10 published on 11 December 2015 Wilson spoke about playing her 300^th WNBL game, commenting “So I am proud to be able to say that obviously this weekend I will have played 300 WNBL games. When I was younger I really wanted to play in the WNBL and I really looked up to the girls that played WNBL. It is humbling to see the likes of the names that I will be joining like Rachael Sporn and Jess Bibby but to be honest I feel a little bit out of their league, so whilst I am happy to be in there I do feel a little bit out of place.” 

Kelly Wilson playing for Bendigo Spirit against the Melbourne Boomers on 21 November 2015 at the State Basketball Centre

After joining Bendigo Spirit for the 2008/09 season Kelly Wilson had an extended stint sharing a house in Bendigo with younger sister Andrea and Gabe Richards. On playing for Bendigo Spirit Wilson commented in an article written by Roy Ward and published in The Sydney Morning Herald on 11 December 2015 “I was ecstatic I could come to play for Bendigo. It was a huge drawcard to come here where my sister was already playing and my best friend was playing. I’m pretty sure we made the finals each year but it was a struggle and an achievement for us to get there competing with powerhouses of the league. To get to the point where we were competing for and winning championships and to do [that] with the same core of players Bernie Harrower had initially recruited was even more rewarding. We had spent so many years struggling but once you get that feeling of winning it’s addictive and once you win championships you want to keep winning them.”6

In a home game at Bendigo Stadium on 2 January 2016 Wilson scored nine points and made a game-high 10 assists in a 78-68 victory against the UC Capitals. In Bendigo’s next game on 9 January at home Wilson recorded a double-double comprised of 13 points along with a game-high and season-high 11 assists in the Spirit’s 81-74 victory against the Melbourne Boomers. Wilson also made seven of nine free throws at an accuracy of 77.8% and made two steals.  

On the road in Bendigo’s final game of the 2015/16 regular season Wilson scored a game-high and season-high 24 points, took four rebounds, made one assist and a game-high four steals against the UC Capitals on 20 February at the AIS Arena. Kelly shot the ball efficiently to make 10 of 20 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 50% and three of eight three-pointers at 37.5%.   

Bendigo Spirit missed the finals in 2015/16, ending a sequence of three consecutive Grand Finals from 2012/13 to 2014/15. Bendigo had 12 wins and 12 losses finals in 2015/16 to finish sixth out of nine clubs. In 2015/16 Wilson averaged 11.4 points and led the WNBL with 5.5 assists per game to set new career-highs in both categories during her 14^th WNBL season.

During three seasons from 2013/14 to 2015/16 Wilson played 68 games for Bendigo Spirit and averaged 9.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 0.9 steals per game. During this three-season period Wilson took on more of the ball handling responsibility with Harrower’s workload being reduced before she retired in January 2015. Wilson’s average of 4.8 assists per game during this period was double the 2.4 assists she averaged per game during her first five WNBL seasons with Bendigo from 2008/09 to 2012/13.

Representing Australia

In 2003 Wilson represented Australia at the FIBA Young Women’s World Championship held in Sibenik, Croatia from 25 July to 3 August. Wilson’s teammates included Gabe Richards, Samantha Richards, Carly Wilson, Jess Foley, Hollie Florance (nee Grima) Emma McDonald (nee Randall) and Laura Summerton (nee Hodges). In Australia’s 70-32 victory against Tunisia Wilson scored five points, took four rebounds and made six steals. Australia had six wins and two losses at the tournament to finish fifth.

At the 2007 World University Games held in Bangkok, Thailand in August Wilson was a member of the Australian team and had Carrie Graf as the Head Coach. Australia had a loss in their opening game but responded brilliantly to win their last five games of the tournament and defeated Russia 85-65 in the final to win the gold medal. In January 2016 Wilson told Basket Case “It was awesome, it was a great experience, I hadn’t played international basketball for a while, I had played Sapphires for Australia, under 23’s and stuff like that when I was younger but it had been a couple of years so just to go and experience that level of competition and obviously to win a gold medal, it was really exciting, it is certainly something I look back on and have fond memories of anyway.”

Wilson represented the Australian Opals team that won Oceania Championships against New Zealand in 2013 and 2015, playing off the bench in both tournaments. Game one of the 2015 tournament was played at Rod Laver Arena as part of a double header with the game between the Opals and Tall Ferns followed by a men’s Oceania Championship match between the Australian Boomers and the New Zealand Tall Blacks. 

Playing in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) from 2009 to 2018

In the final decade of the SEABL from 2009 to 2018 Wilson played 10 consecutive seasons in the league, won the regular season Most Valuable Player Award twice and played in two SEABL championships.

Wilson spent most of her SEABL career with the Bendigo Lady Braves and bookended the final decade of the SEABL with selection in the All-SEABL first team in 2009 and 2018. Wilson also won the first of her Most Valuable Player Awards in 2009 playing for the Braves. In 2009 Wilson played 23 games for Bendigo Braves and averaged 22.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. Wilson made 63 of 154 three-pointers at an accuracy of 40.9%.

During 2013 playing for the Knox Raiders with current Southside Flyers Head Coach Cheryl Chambers as the Head Coach Wilson achieved the double of winning the regular season MVP and winning a SEABL Championship, with Knox Raiders defeating Bendigo Lady Braves 82-61 in the Grand Final at Dandenong Stadium. In the 2013 Grand Final Wilson scored 24 points shooting at 57% from the field, took six rebounds and made seven assists. Knox Raiders teammates Gabe Richards and Bec Allen both registered double-doubles with Allen winning the Grand Final MVP Award. For Knox Raiders Wilson played 23 games in 2013 and averaged 17.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game.

Kelly Wilson driving to the basket for the Bendigo Lady Braves against the Launceston Tornadoes in the SEABL Grand Final on 18 August 2018 at the State Basketball Centre

The Bendigo Lady Braves dominated during the 2018 SEABL regular season, having 20 wins and zero losses. Megan Moody was in her first season as the Braves Head Coach. Kelly Wilson’s teammates at the Bendigo braves in 2018 included younger sister Andrea, Richards and Nadeen Payne. During the finals the Braves did suffer a loss to the Launceston Tornadoes at home in a qualifying final, however when the sides met again in the Grand Final at the State Basketball Centre Bendigo Lady Braves prevailed in a shoot-out to win the Grand Final 119-96. Wilson and Gabe Richards dominated in the Grand Final for the Braves, Wilson had already registered a double-double at half-time and finished the game with 27 points, three rebounds and 20 assists whilst Richards scored 43 points and took 24 rebounds to win the Grand Final MVP.

In five consecutive SEABL seasons from 2013 to 2017 Wilson averaged between 6.0 and 7.5 assists per game. During the 2018 SEABL season Wilson played 24 games for the Bendigo Lady Braves, averaged 15.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, an astounding SEABL career-high 12.4 assists per game and had a field goal accuracy of 51.8% to earn selection in the All-SEABL first team.

Kelly Wilson playing for the Bendigo Lady Braves against the Launceston Tornadoes in the SEABL Grand Final on 18 August 2018 at the State Basketball Centre

2016/17 and 2017/18 WNBL seasons with Townsville Fire

Wilson returned to Townsville Fire for a second stint commencing in 2016/17 and her former Townsville teammate Claudia Brassard was in her first season as Head Coach after being an Assistant Coach of the club for three seasons from 2013/14 to 2015/16. With Chris Lucas as Head Coach and Brassard as an Assistant Coach the Fire won back-to-back WNBL championships in 2014/15 and 2015/16. Wilson and Brassard had been teammates at Townsville for two seasons –  2005/06 and 2006/07. 

Wilson suffered a fractured left ankle in Townsville’s Round 5 home game against the Sydney Flames on 5 November 2016 at Townsville Stadium. In Townsville’s 85-83 victory against Sydney Wilson shot the ball at 50% from the field, scored 10 points and made a game-high seven assists. On Wilson’s injury Townsville Head Coach Brassard commented “She’s one of the premier point guards in the WNBL. She’s done a good job running our team through the first five rounds of the season, but we’re going to have to adjust.”7

Due to the ankle injury Wilson missed over a month and a half of the season and made her WNBL return with the Fire in January 2017. In a home game for Townsville Fire against the Dandenong Rangers in Round 18 Wilson played brilliantly to score 16 points, take nine rebounds, made a game-high seven assists, shot the ball at 66.7% from the field and made no turnovers in 30 minutes and 47 seconds court-time. For her superb performance in Townsville’s victory against the Rangers on 10 February at Townsville Stadium Wilson was named the WNBL’s Round 18 Player of the Week. Wilson commented to WNBL Media “I’m feeling a lot more confident out on the court and probably for the first time this season I’m feeling good and ready to go. I feel like I’ve had a three-month holiday in the middle of the season, but I am good to go now.”8   

At the half-way point of the 2016/17 season Townsville had a record of five wins and seven losses and looked to be in serious danger of missing the finals however a strong finish to the season resulted in the Fire winning nine of their last 12 games to make the finals for a sixth consecutive season. Townsville finished in fourth position at the end of the 2016/17 WNBL regular season with a record of 14 wins and 10 losses. Townsville were defeated in the semi finals by minor premiers Sydney Flames two games to nil. Wilson ranked fourth in the WNBL with 4.4 assists per game.

During the 2016/17 season Townsville Fire had a core rotation of eight players who each played more than 350 minutes for the season, five of these players returned to Townsville for the 2017/18 season – Wilson, Suzy Batkovic, Mia Murray, Micaela Cocks and Darcee Garbin. Townsville’s most high profile recruit for the 2017/18 season was forward Cayla George who played in Townsville’s 2014/15 and 2015/16 championships. Other recruits that were part of the Townsville Fire core rotation in 2017/18 were imports Sydney Wiese and Laurin Mincy along with Australian point guard Mikhaela Donnelly. 2017/18 was Brassard’s second season as Townsville Fire’s Head Coach, being just the fourth person to hold this role after David Herbert, Peter Buckle and Lucas.

Townsville finished the 2017/18 regular season third on the ladder with a record of 14 wins and seven losses, level with second placed Sydney Uni Flames and one game behind minor premiers the Perth Lynx. The Melbourne Boomers finished fourth with 12 wins and nine losses. Townsville won the semi final series against Sydney two games to nil to progress to the Grand Final. The second game of the semi final series was Wilson’s 100^th game for Townsville Fire – becoming the 10^th player in the club’s history to reach this milestone.

Kelly Wilson playing for Townsville Fire against the Perth Lynx on 26 November 2017 at the State Basketball Centre

In the Grand Final series against Melbourne Boomers Wilson was a member of Townsville Fire’s starting line-up along with Mia Murray, Sydney Wiese, Suzy Batkovic and Cayla George. All three Grand Final games between Townsville Fire and Melbourne Boomers were a sell-out with 8,000 spectators attending during the three game series. Townsville won game 1 of the Grand Final series 69-64 at Townsville Stadium and were defeated 57-58 on the road by Melbourne Boomers at the State Basketball Centre in Game 2.

In game 3 of the 2017/18 WNBL Grand Final on 21 January Wilson played her 350^th WNBL game, becoming the ninth player in league history to reach this milestone. On the eve of Wilson’s 350^th WNBL game Townsville Fire Head Coach Claudia Brassard commented “Kelly is such a hard worker. Her work ethic is second to none. She has an insatiable appetite to get better and she’s become a terrific leader. She controls the team exceptionally well and she brings a raft of intangibles – outside of being an elite player – to your locker room which teammates love.”9

Kelly Wilson shooting a free-throw for Townsville Fire against the Perth Lynx on 26 November 2017 at the State Basketball Centre

In game three of the Grand Final Wilson scored nine points, took six rebounds and had three assists in Townsville’s 70-57 victory over the Boomers at Townsville Stadium on 21 January to win the 2017/18 Grand Final series. It was Townsville’s third WNBL Championship, having previously won the title in 2014/15 and 2015/16. Wilson ranked sixth in the WNBL in 2017/18 with 4.5 assists per game. In 2016/17 and 2017/18 Wilson played a total of 41 games for Townsville and averaged 5.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 0.9 steals per game.

2018/19 WNBL season with University of Canberra Capitals

Wilson joined the University of Canberra Capitals for the 2018/19 WNBL season, with the opportunity to once again be teammates with Kelsey Griffin playing a role in the decision to join the Capitals. When the Capitals were at full strength during the 2018/19 season their starting line-up was Wilson, Leilani Mitchell, Canadian import Kia Nurse and co-captain’s Griffin and Marianna Tolo. Paul Gorris was in his third consecutive season as Head Coach of the University of Canberra Capitals in 2018/19, having commenced the role in 2016/17.

Kelly Wilson playing for the University of Canberra Capitals and about to pass to Leilani Mitchell against the Dandenong Rangers on 30 December 2018 at Dandenong Stadium

In Canberra’s opening game of the 2018/19 season Wilson was only one point and two rebounds shy of a triple double in the 97-78 road victory against Sydney Flames at Brydens Arena on 12 October. Wilson scored nine points, took a game-high eight rebounds, made a game-high 11 assists and had an equal game-high three steals. In an 83-91 Round 8 road loss to Adelaide Lightning at Titanium Security Arena Wilson registered a double-double comprised of 13 points and a game-high 11 assists whilst also taking six rebounds.    

Kelly Wilson playing for the University of Canberra Capitals against the Dandenong Rangers on 30 December 2018 at Dandenong Stadium

The University of Canberra Capitals started the season strongly and continued with their momentum to record 16 wins and five losses during the 2018/19 regular season to finish on top of the WNBL ladder. The Capitals defeated Perth Lynx two games to nil in the semi final series, winning game one at home 95-76 at AIS Arena and game two at Bendat Basketball Centre 91-75. In game one on 25 January Wilson scored nine points and had an equal game-high seven assists along with two teammates – Mitchell and Griffin. The Capitals had an incredible 29 assists for the game on 34 made field goals. During the game two victory Wilson had a double-double comprised of 15 points and a game high 12 assists on 31 January 2019 at Bendat Basketball Centre. Wilson made seven of 13 field goal attempts for a field goal accuracy of 53.8%, took six rebounds and made two steals.

Kelly Wilson playing for the University of Canberra Capitals against the Dandenong Rangers on 30 December 2018 at Dandenong Stadium

The University of Canberra Capitals entered the 2018/19 WNBL Grand Final series on an 11 game winning streak whilst Adelaide were also in impressive form, having won 12 of their 14 previous games. In game 1 of the Grand Final series Wilson scored 12 points, took four rebounds and had six assists in the Caps 88-67 victory at the AIS Arena on 13 February 2019.

The University of Canberra Capitals held a slight lead for most of game 2 at Adelaide 36ers Arena on 13 February however the Adelaide Lightning were able to remain within striking distance. Canberra were in a commanding position leading 68-61 with four minutes and 45 seconds remaining in the game. The Lightning were able to reduce the deficit and with 5.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter the Lightning trailed by a solitary point.  Nicole Seekamp inbounded the ball for Adelaide at the defensive baseline to Lauren Nicholson who dribbled up the court. After Mitchell deflected the ball Nicholson regained control, dribbled to the three point line and passed to Seekamp who was standing at the top of charge circle with her back to the basket, Seekamp caught the ball and spun 90 degrees in mid-air to attempt a shot facing the basket. Seekamp’s shot landed on top of the left hand side of the ring, the ball rolled to the right hand side of the ring and bounced in, Canberra players were quick to signal that Seekamp’s shot was attempted after the final siren, however the basket was counted, giving Adelaide a one point victory, 74-73 after a dramatic 5.5 second final possession which created plenty of discussion. Game 2 of the Grand Final on 13February was the first time Canberra had been restricted to under 80 points since 23 November when they had a 72-70 home victory against the Melbourne Boomers.  

Adelaide started game 3 of the Grand Final at AIS Arena on 16 February in ideal fashion to lead the UC Capitals by seven points 15-8 with five minutes and 15 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Over the next two and a half quarters the Capitals were able to reel Adelaide’s lead in and built a five point advantage for themselves 67-62 with just under a minute to play in the third quarter. Canberra finished the quarter strongly to score the last seven points of the third term to open up a 12 point lead at the final break and went on to defeat Adelaide 93-73 to win the 2018/19 WNBL Championship. The Canberra starters scored 90 of the team’s 93 points comprised of 29 for Griffin, 19 for Mitchell, 16 for Wilson, 14 for Tolo and 12 for Nurse. Wilson took four rebounds, made four assists and shot the ball efficiently to make six of eight field goal attempts at an accuracy of 75%, made two of two three-pointers and both free throw attempts. Griffin won the Rachael Sporn Medal as the Grand Final MVP, the third time in her career that she had won this award with the previous times being when she was playing for the Bendigo Spirit in 2012/13 and 2013/14 with Wilson as a teammate. It was the second time that Wilson had played in back-to-back WNBL championships however this time the titles were with different teams, having won the 2017/18 championship with Townsville Fire and the 2018/19 championship with Canberra Capitals.

Wilson played 26 games for the Capitals in 2018/19 and averaged 8.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game. In WNBL season 17 Wilson led the league for assists per game, ranked ninth in steals and set new career-highs for rebounds and assists per game. UC Caps teammate Mitchell ranked third in the league with 5.5 assists per game. Griffin averaged 19.7 points, 12.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game to win the WNBL’s Most Valuable Player Award, Caps teammate Kia Nurse finished seventh.

2019/20 WNBL season with Bendigo Spirit

For the 2019/20 WNBL season Wilson returned to Bendigo Spirit and was appointed the Spirit’s co-captain along with fellow guard Tessa Lavey who had previously been a teammate of Wilson’s at Bendigo for two seasons in 2013/14 and 2014/15. 2019/20 was Tracy York’s first season as Head Coach of the Bendigo Spirit. It was York’s second time as the Head Coach of a WNBL club, having held this role with Adelaide Lightning in 2015/16. Mark Alabakov was an Assistant Coach of Bendigo Spirit in 2019/20.

On returning to Bendigo Wilson told WNBL Media “I feel privileged to have the opportunity to return home to join the Bendigo Spirit. I am excited to be able to work with Tracy and the rest of the team for the upcoming WNBL season. I look forward to playing in front of my family, friends and the loyal Bendigo supporters in the new world class facilities that are on offer. The Spirit have a rich history in the WNBL and I am hopeful of helping the team have a successful season.”10

Kelly Wilson playing for Bendigo Spirit and looking to pass to Gabe Richards against the Southside Flyers on 26 October 2019 at Traralgon Stadium

Wilson was one of nine players that averaged more than 15.0 minutes per game for Bendigo Spirit in 2019/20 along with Lavey, Carley Ernst, Shyla Heal, Abbey Wehrung, Demi Skinner, Gabe Richards and imports Rebecca Tobin and Marte Grays.

Kelly Wilson playing for Bendigo Spirit against the Southside Flyers on 26 October 2019 at Traralgon Stadium

In a road game against Melbourne Boomers at the State Basketball Centre on 19 October 2019 Wilson scored a team-high 19 points, took three rebounds, made a game-high seven assists and an equal game-high two steals. Wilson shot the ball efficiently to make eight of 14 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 57.1%, one of two three-pointers and both free throws.

Kelly Wilson shooting a jump shot or Bendigo Spirit against the Southside Flyers on 26 October 2019 at Traralgon Stadium

On 21 December 2019 Wilson played her 200^th game for Bendigo Spirit in a road game against the University of Canberra Capitals at the National Convention Centre. It was a big summer for milestones as on 24 January 2020 against Perth Lynx Wilson played her 395^th WNBL game in a home game for Bendigo Spirit at Red Energy Arena, surpassing the previous WNBL record of 394 games set by Dandenong Rangers and University of Canberra Capitals shooting guard Jess Bibby. After breaking the WNBL’s games record Wilson told wnbl.basketball “I reflect on when I started out and was trying to break into the league. If someone had have said then I’d play this long, let alone reach the games record, I would’ve thought they were crazy. I look back at that kid who was so eager and enthusiastic about playing in the WNBL. I knew I’d played a lot of games but wasn’t really aware of the record. I still enjoy it and that’s why I’m still playing.”11

Wilson told WNBL Media “I was fortunate to play with and against some of the best players the league has seen. Kristi Harrower, Suzy Batkovic, Kelsey Griffin. I played in Jess Bibby’s final game. I look back to those days when I was really young and watching the great players on TV, idolising them and my dream was to play in the WNBL. The fact I’m here all these years later, I think when I retire it’s something I’ll look back on and be proud of. I think about all the amazing players I’ve played with but more so the friendships I’ve made. Gabe Richards and I met when we were 14 and I was fortunate to play with my younger sister Andrea for a long time and they were both bridesmaids at my wedding. While I remember a lot of the games I’ve played in and am grateful for the team success, a lot of my memories are off-court enjoyed with the people I’ve met through playing WNBL and that’s what I cherish the most.”12

Kelly Wilson playing for Bendigo Spirit against the Southside Flyers on 26 October 2019 at Traralgon Stadium

Bendigo Spirit finished seventh on the ladder in 2019/20 with five wins and 16 losses. Wilson played 19 games for Bendigo and averaged 8.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Wilson ranked third in the WNBL for assists per game, equal 13^th for minutes played and equal 18^th for steals. In a road game against Perth Lynx at Bendat Basketball Centre on 12 January Wilson made a game-high and season-high 11 assists.

Playing NBL1 with the Bendigo Braves from 2019 to 2023

During winter 2019 Wilson played in the inaugural NBL1 season with the Bendigo Lady Braves which was a great lead-in to the 2019/20 WNBL season as Wilson, Tessa Lavey, Gabe Richards and Becca Tobin were all playing for the Lady Braves in NBL1 and the Spirit in the WNBL. Megan Moody continued in the role of Braves Head Coach for the 2019 season.

The Bendigo Lady Braves had a superb 2019 NBL1 regular season, finishing on top of the ladder with 19 wins and one loss. An 80-83 preliminary final loss to the Geelong Supercats ended the Bendigo Lady Braves season. Wilson had a remarkable 2019 NBL1 season for the Braves to average 19.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, a phenomenal 10.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Wilson easily led the NBL1 for assists per game with the second ranked player in this category Chanise Jenkins having 6.4 assists per game. Wilson won the NBL1’s 2019 Regular Season Most Valuable Player Award. It was the fourth time in 12 seasons that Wilson had won a state league MVP Award, having won the QABL MVP in 2008 and the SEABL MVP in 2009 and 2013.

Experienced WNBL Assistant Coach and state league Head Coach Mark Alabakov was appointed Head Coach of Bendigo Braves women’s team for the 2020 NBL1 South season. Due to COVID-19 an NBL1 season was not played in Victoria during 2020. When NBL1 resumed in Victoria in 2021 the Victorian based league had been rebranded as NBL1 South and was one of four NBL1 conferences along with NBL1 North in Queensland, NBL1 Central in South Australia and NBL1 West in Western Australia. Another conference, NBL1 East commenced in New South Wales in 2022.

After having her son Ted in February 2021 Wilson wasn’t sure if she would return to playing basketball. On the 4 January 2022 episode SEN Breakfast Adam Cooney asked “Tell us about the work that you had to do to get yourself back to play competitive basketball?” Wilson responded “Yeah, it is no joke coming back from having a baby. It’s lots of work. I have a very supportive husband and family and like I said I wasn’t sure that I was going to come back because obviously I have got different priorities now in life, but I just started to feel good and went and started shooting and training again and thought I can still do this. It was a slow and long process but it was a slow year in Victoria, we were pretty effected by COVID, in and out of lockdown so no-one was doing too much at the time, so it kind of worked out quite well.”

In Wilson’s return to basketball on 2 July 2021 for the Bendigo Braves during the 2021 NBL1 South season she played a brilliant game to be one point, one rebound and one assist short of a triple double. Wilson scored nine points, took nine rebounds and made nine assists against Albury Wodonga in 23 minutes and 57 seconds court-time. Wilson played three more games for the Bendigo Braves before the season was paused in early August due to COVID-19 and ultimately the remainder of the NBL1 South season was cancelled. In four games for the Bendigo Braves during the 2021 NBL1 South season Wilson averaged 15.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

In 2022 a full season of basketball was played in the NBL1 South Conference for the first time in three years. Wilson was one of five players that averaged more than 11.0 points per game for the Bendigo Braves in 2022 along with Tess Madgen, Megan McKay, Abbey Wehrung and Cassidy McLean.

Including finals Wilson had at least five assists 19 times from 24 games for the Bendigo Braves during the 2022 NBL1 South season including four double-doubles, scoring at least 10 points and having at least 10 assists in this quartet of games. On July 23 and 24 Wilson registered double-doubles on consecutive days in Round 13, falling one rebound short of reaching a triple double in the Bendigo Braves opening game of the weekend against the Nunawading Spectres at Nunawading Stadium on 23 July. Against the Spectres Wilson scored 10 points, made 12 assists and took nine rebounds in an 82-70 victory. The following day in a Bendigo home game at Red Energy Arena Wilson scored 18 points with a field goal accuracy of 70%, had 13 assists and three steals in the Braves 111-81 victory against the Hobart Chargers.

The Bendigo Braves had 20 wins and two losses during the 2022 NBL1 South regular season to win the minor premiership, two wins ahead of the Ringwood Hawks. In the Grand Final Bendigo lost to Ringwood 73-89. Wilson played 24 games for the Bendigo Braves and averaged 13.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game. Wilson led the conference in assists per game and ranked ninth for steals. Wilson won the 2022 NBL1 South Golden Hands Award with a Golden Hands rating of 7.38.

Kelly Wilson making a lay up for Bendigo Braves against the Ringwood Hawks in the 2022 NBL1 South Grand Final on 3 September 2022 at the State Basketball Centre

During Series 9, Episode 2 of Basket Case podcast published on 9 November 2022 Wilson commented on the Bendigo Braves 2022 NBL1 South season “Worked with Mark Alabakov and a very similar group to what we had last season. Obviously it was a bit disappointing not to come away with the championship at the end. It was a really enjoyable season and I love working with Mark and especially the core of the group that we have got together. I love representing Bendigo so it was a really good season.”

For the third consecutive NBL1 South season Alabakov was the Bendigo Braves Head Coach in 2023. Three players from the Braves 2022 team were starters in 2023 – Wilson, Megan McKay and Cassidy McLean. Two off-season recruits completed Bendigo’s full strength starting line-up for 2023 – Amy Atwell and Kasey Burton. The Braves won their first three games of 2023 and had two narrow victories in this time. The Braves defeated Frankston by a point at home in their season opener and had a three point road win against Geelong United in their third game. The Braves winning streak continued throughout the season and they won most games by more than 15 points.

In June 2023 Basketball Victoria announced that the NBL1 South Women’s Golden Hands Award was being re-named the ‘Kelly Wilson Golden Hands Award’. NBL1 South League Manager Alison Cody told Basketball Victoria “Kelly Wilson stands out as a deserving person to have an award named after them. Across the last 18 years, Kelly has been the most outstanding player to compete in NBL1 South and SEABL, doing so not only in a professional manner, but also with great character and leadership. We love to celebrate our local champions who have gone on to achieve special things both within the NBL1 South and WNBL, this is exactly what Kelly has done. As a four time WNBL champion, a three time NBL1 South/SEABL MVP winner and long standing dominance across the ‘Golden Hands’ category demonstrates that Kelly Wilson is more than befitting of this honour.”13

Bendigo Braves made it through to the last day of the 2023 NBL1 South season undefeated. In their final game of the regular season the Braves trailed Knox Raiders 81-82 with three minutes and 45 seconds remaining in a road game at the State Basketball Centre on 16 July. The Braves finished the game with a 17-12 run to win by four points 98-94 and completed an undefeated NBL1 South regular season, winning all 22 games. The Braves victory against Knox was the eighth time of the 2023 season that they won by less than 10 points. Whilst Bendigo Braves entered the finals on a long winning streak they had gained valuable experience in close games throughout the season. In each of her 21 regular season games for the Braves Wilson had at least five assists. From her second game until her 11^th game of the season for Bendigo Wilson had at least 10 assists in a game nine times out of 10 games including a season-high 19 assists in a home victory against the Hobart Chargers on 6 May.   

In a home qualifying final the Braves defeated Waverley Falcons 75-64 at Red Energy Arena on 22 July. Bendigo Braves hosted Mt Gambier Pioneers in a preliminary final at Red Energy Arena on 5 August and were in a commanding position, leading 54-41 at half-time. Mount Gambier outscored Bendigo 25-14 in the third quarter and maintained the momentum in the fourth quarter to lead the Braves 86-80 with three minutes and 30 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. The Braves fought back to lead 95-94 with 50 seconds remaining. Two made free throws by Miela Goodchild put Mount Gambier in front by a point, 96-95 with 28 seconds remaining. Wilson brought the ball up the court and with poise and skill made a jump shot from the middle of the free throw line to regain a one point lead for the Braves with 18 seconds left in the fourth term. On the next possession Bendigo made a steal without Mount Gambier attempting a shot and held on for a one point win to advance to the 2023 NBL1 South Grand Final.

Bendigo Braves trailed Waverley Falcons by one point, 40-41 at half-time of the NBL1 South Grand Final at the State Basketball Centre on 12 August. For the 10^th time in 2023 the Braves had a victory by less than 10 points, defeating Waverley 83-78 to win their 25^th consecutive game and the 2023 NBL1 South Championship. Wilson scored 13 points, took a team-high 11 rebounds and made a game-high six assists. Braves teammate Atwell scored 36 points and took eight rebounds to win the Grand Final MVP Award.

As the Braves starting point guard Wilson showed no signs of slowing down during her 24 NBL1 South games in 2023, averaging 10.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, a league-leading 10.3 assists and had 2.3 steals per game. Fittingly Wilson was the first player to win the Golden Hands Award after it was renamed the ‘Kelly Wilson Golden Hands Award’. Wilson’s superb 2023 NBL1 South season earnt her selection in the Conference’s All-Star 5. Wilson was joined in the NBL1 South All-Star 5 by Braves teammate Megan McKay who also won the conference’s MVP award.

At the 2023 NBL1 National Finals in Joondalup, Western Australia the Bendigo Braves won all three games by at least 25 points each to win the NBL1 National title in convincing fashion and extended their winning streak to 28 games. At the NBL1 National Finals Wilson played in the Braves three victories and averaged 10.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 15.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Wilson had at least 13 assists in each of the Braves three games at the NBL1 National Finals, culminating with 18 assists in the 114-87 victory against Norths Bears in the championship game.

In a video published by Bendigo Spirit on Instagram on 12 January 2024 Wilson commented on her 2023 NBL1 season with Bendigo Spirt “I had a really enjoyable off-season. I had a season of basketball where we had a really great team and had a lot of success, but most importantly we enjoyed ourselves and were really fortunate to win the National Championships in Perth.”

Wilson has spent much of her distinguished basketball career playing in Country Victoria for Bendigo Spirit in the WNBL and for the Bendigo Braves in the SEABL and NBL1. For over a decade Wilson has worked as a school teacher in Bendigo. After the 2023 NBL1 South season Wilson spoke of her connection to Bendigo, telling nbl1.com.au “I’d hopefully be classified as a local now. A lot of my favourite basketball memories have come with the ‘Bendigo’ name across my chest. I say this often, I do have a lot of pride in representing Bendigo, whether that is in a Bendigo Braves uniform or a Bendigo Spirit uniform. The community have been so good to me and the teams that I’ve played for so I do have that connection and it is something I take great pride in doing.”14

Reflecting on her career and having the NBL1 South Women’s Golden Hands Award named after her Wilson told nbl1.com.au in early September 2023 “If I could sum it up and tell a 16-year-old Kelly Wilson when she was first playing for the Nunawading Spectres in a senior women’s comp that in however many years time there’s going to be an award named after you at this level of competition, I wouldn’t have believed you. When I retire and look back on it, it will be something I will be extremely proud of.”15 

2021/22 WNBL season with the University of Canberra Capitals

After playing 18 consecutive WNBL seasons from 2002/03 to 2019/20 Wilson missed the 2020 hub season in North Queensland as she was pregnant during the season and had a son Ted in February 2021. On her experience of watching the 2020 WNBL season Wilson told WNBL Media “I really enjoyed watching it as a spectator and fan because I was in absolutely no physical shape to be able to compete. It was great because there were so many games to watch. I was watching at home pregnant and I noticed the amount of mums running around and it did cross my mind ‘maybe I can play again.’ I did get that motivation from the likes of Steph Blicavs, Mia Murray, Kayla Steindl and Ash Karaitiana and who knows, maybe I can be that for someone else. That would be quite rewarding.”16

A key reason that Wilson started playing basketball as a child is that she didn’t want to miss out on sharing experiences with her friends and this same reason is a factor in Wilson continuing to play in the WNBL, with one friend and teammate Kelsey Griffin being a driving influence. After signing with the University of Canberra Capitals for the 2021/22 season Wilson told WNBL Media “Kels has this power over me where she and (wife) Erin just plant the seed and I always take it. It’s a huge part of why I’m back here (in Canberra) again, I love playing with Kels. I enjoy playing basketball when I’m playing with her.”17

Paul Goriss was in his sixth consecutive season as Head Coach of the University of Canberra Capitals in 2021/22. It was the second season that Goriss was a Head Coach of Wilson with the first season being three seasons earlier on the Capitals Championship winning 2018/19 team. Current Bendigo Spirit Head Coach Kennedy Kereama was an Assistant Coach of the UC Capitals in 2021/22.

After Wilson signed with the club UC Capitals Head Coach Goriss commented “It’s great to have one of our championship guards returning to Canberra with the UC Caps. Kelly not only brings championship experience and leadership, but she brings basketball IQ, passing ability, vision and a history of winning chemistry with Kelsey. I am elated to have Kelly back in a Caps uniform. She understands our culture, history, she knows how we like to play, and she had a massive impact on our championship. She is a warrior and her longevity in the WNBL proves her worth to our team. I am looking forward to coaching Kelly again. She’s a fantastic addition to the team.”18

Kelly Wilson playing for University of Canberra Capitals against Perth Lynx at Selkirk Stadium in Ballarat on 19 January 2022

The UC Capitals full strength starting line-up in 2021/22 was Wilson, Brittany Smart, Brittany Sykes, Griffin and Mikaela Ruef. Nine players averaged at least 14.0 minutes per game for the Capitals in 2021/22 with the starters being joined in this category by Jade Melbourne, Tahlia Tupaea, Alex Bunton and Alicia Froling. 

In a Round 1 road game at Qudos Bank Arena on 5 December 2021 the University of Canberra Capitals defeated the Sydney Uni Flames 58-55. In her return to the WNBL after missing the 2020 season Wilson scored five points, made two of three field goal attempts at an accuracy of 66.7%, took six rebounds and made a game-high six assists. On how it felt returning to the WNBL after having her son Ted, Wilson told Fox Sports in a post-game interview “Absolutely amazing and look I am just thankful that I have an extremely supportive club behind me and my friends and family, obviously a shout-out goes to my husband Michael, but it is amazing to see my little boy in the crowd with my husband and to be able to be back playing at this level again.”

Against Bendigo Spirit in a home game at the National Convention Centre on 22 December 2021 Wilson scored 14 points for the Capitals, made 50% of field goal attempts, three of seven three-pointers and had a game-high 10 assists along with four rebounds and two steals in the Capitals 100-88 victory.

In early January 2022 Wilson was on the verge of becoming the first player to reach 400 WNBL games. In a video published by the University of Canberra Capitals on 4 January 2022 Wilson’s long-time teammate and friend Griffin was asked “What comes to mind when you hear the name Kelly Wilson?” Griffin responded “I suppose a lot of things come to mind but her work ethic is yeah unparalleled and I hold myself to a pretty high standard and then there is Kelly Wilson standard. But there is so much more to her, she is unassuming and she doesn’t speak out or say a lot but when you have time to stop and think and reflect on her career, like what she has achieved as a country kid coming out and doing what she’s done is just remarkable. It’s incredible but I suppose the first thing that I think of is yeah, Kelly’s work ethic, it is just something I have never seen before.”

In an article written by Megan Hustwaite and published on wnbl.basketball.com.au on 5 January 2022 Gabe Richards commented “It’s absolutely no surprise that the first player to 400 games is Kelly Wilson. She is the energiser bunny and one of the most competitive people I’ve ever met and she just loves basketball so when you combine all those things together it’s not surprising. It’s an incredible, incredible achievement.

We’ve been best friends since we were 12 years old, we’re the same age so we were in all the state teams together. It’s really handy as a post player having a point guard like Kelly, so I guess it was destiny we were meant to grow up and play basketball together and that’s what we did.

Certainly, my proudest achievements and most enjoyable times on the basketball court have been with Kelly.”19

Bernie Harrower told wnbl.com.au “Kelly is one of my all-time favourite players and the sort of player you don’t have to coach, you give her a few tips and away she goes. I’ve always had a saying over the years with my groups ‘miss out because you’re not good enough, never miss out because you didn’t work hard enough’ and Kelly works so hard you’ve got to try and pull her back a bit. She’s the ultimate professional but never played basketball professionally, she always worked for a living and fitted her basketball in around that.”

“I rate her game, particularly her third quarter, in the semi-final in 2012-13 against Dandenong as one of the best. They were playing a zone against us, we ran the same play time and time again and she just lined up on the wing and knocked down threes. We went from 12 down at half time, on a 19-0 run and she’d had about 5 three-pointers in that, to a 7-point-lead at three-quarter time. We ended up winning that game and won the Grand Final two weeks later.”20

During the 4 January 2022 episode of SEN Breakfast Wilson was asked “What does playing 400 games mean to you?” Wilson responded “A couple of seasons ago I broke Bibby’s record and I didn’t really think too much of it at the time because I wasn’t sure if I was going to play again after having my son but I felt good and I was still feeling a bit competitive so obviously came back this season. I think it is something that maybe I will reflect on when I finish playing, it seems like it wasn’t that long ago that I broke her record, look I am just more concerned about getting the win tomorrow night so that’s the focus for me right now.”  

During SEN Breakfast on the 4 January 2022 Julian de Stoop asked Wilson “Tell us about your friendship with Kelsey Griffin, because you follow each other around the country at times you two?” Wilson replied “I know, tell me about it, she has this power over me to entice me to come to the places that she is playing at. Look she’s a special player, she’s an exceptional leader and she’s one of those players that you want to play with. We obviously have a great friendship as well, I know that when I am playing with her I am enjoying basketball, so that is what it is all about.”

Wilson reaching 400 WNBL games coincided with the time that COVID-19 had the greatest impact on scheduled WNBL games. Wilson played her 399^th WNBL game on the road for the UC Capitals against Townsville Fire at Townsville Entertainment Centre on 31 December 2021. Due to COVID-19 protocols the game scheduled between the Capitals and Sydney for Wednesday 5 January which would have been Wilson’s 400^th game was postponed on the afternoon of the game.

On Saturday 8 January Wilson was set to return to Gippsland to play for the University of Canberra Capitals against the Melbourne Boomers in Traralgon at Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium (GRISS) in a game starting at 5.00pm. Late morning on game day the WNBL announced that the game was postponed due to COVID protocols.

On the third attempt Wilson became the first player to reach 400 WNBL games, achieving this significant milestone in a Capitals home game against Perth Lynx on 14 January 2022 at the National Convention Centre.

In a UC Capitals 94-69 victory in a home game against the Southside Flyers at the National Convention Centre on 5 February 2022 Wilson fell two points and one rebound short of recording a triple double. Wilson scored eight points, took nine rebounds and made a game-high and season-high 11 assists. From limited shots Wilson shot the ball efficiently to have a field goal accuracy of 60% and made two of three three-pointers.

The University of Canberra Capitals finished third at the end of the 2021/22 regular season with a record of 11 wins and six losses. The UC Capitals were defeated in a semi final by Perth Lynx. Wilson played 16 games for the UC Capitals in 2021/22, all as the starting point guard and averaged 6.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.8 steals and 30.2 minutes per game. Wilson ranked second in the WNBL for assists per game, fifth for steals and was one of only two players along with Caps teammate Sykes to rank in the league’s top five in both categories.

Kelly Wilson playing for University of Canberra Capitals against Perth Lynx at Selkirk Stadium in Ballarat on 19 January 2022

2022/23 and 2023/24 WNBL seasons with Bendigo Spirit

Bendigo Spirit announced on 30 September 2022 that Kelly Wilson had signed with the club for the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season. Bendigo Spirit Head Coach Kennedy Kereama told WNBL Media “I’m so happy that we have been able to bring Kelly back home for the upcoming WNBL season. Kel ticks so many boxes for us as a program, her incredible basketball IQ, her leadership skills, her talent, she is always in peak condition and leads by example in so many ways. As a club and program that has championship ambitions, you need players with championship experience to help lead the way. She has championship-winning and playing experience which is incredibly beneficial to us as a group, and best of all, she is a homegrown regional Victorian!”21

Kelly Wilson and Kennedy Kereama during Bendigo Spirit’s game against the Melbourne Boomers at Melbourne Sports Centres, Parkville on 22 January 2023

During the 2021/22 WNBL season Kennedy Kereama was an Assistant Coach of the UC Capitals. At the Capitals in 2021/22 Kereama had four games as the caretaker Head Coach. Wilson was one of three players along with Griffin and Alicia Froling that signed with Bendigo Spirit for the 2022/23 season after playing for the UC Capitals in 2021/22. Before the 2021/22 season Kereama had experience as both a Head Coach and an Assistant Coach in the WNBL. Kereama was the Head Coach of the West Coast Waves (now known as Perth Lynx) for three seasons from 2012/13 to 2014/15 and was an Assistant Coach in the WNBL with Dandenong Rangers (2017/18) and Melbourne Boomers (2018/19).

On 12 April 2022 Bendigo Spirit announced that “From April 2022, Sports Entertainment Network (SEN) will acquire the Bendigo Spirit WNBL licence from Bendigo Stadium Limited (BSL). Sports Entertainment Group (SEG) proposed the acquisition of the Bendigo Spirit WNBL basketball team, with licence to remain in Bendigo for a period of 10 years. BSL will also have the first right of refusal to re-acquire the Bendigo Spirit licence if SEG wish to dispose of it in future.”22

On the acquisition of the Bendigo Spirit WNBL license Richard Simkiss, CEO Ballpark, Rainmaker & Publishing, Sports Entertainment Network told WNBL Media “We couldn’t be more excited with this agreement and look forward enhancing our already strong connection to the local Bendigo community. We are committed to grow opportunities on and off the court via the SEN network.”23

Kelly Wilson was one of four players along with Abbey Wehrung, Megan McKay and Cassidy Mclean from the Bendigo Braves side that made it to the 2022 NBL1 South Grand Final that played for Bendigo Spirit in 2022/23. This quartet all averaged more than 11.0 points per game for the Braves in 2022 to rank in the club’s top five in this category.

During the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season Kelly Wilson was one of eight Bendigo players that averaged more than 15 minutes per game, being joined in this category by fellow guards Tessa Lavey, Wehrung and Ally Wilson along with frontcourt players Kelsey Griffin, Anneli Maley, Alicia Froling and McKay. Bendigo’s 11 player main roster was completed by McLean, Piper Dunlop and Sophia Locandro. All 10 players on Bendigo’s 11 player main roster for the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season with previous WNBL experience had played in the league for Bendigo Spirit previously. After playing three seasons of College basketball for UC Irvine University forward Locandro made her WNBL debut with Bendigo in 2022/23.

Wilson and Griffin were named Bendigo Spirit’s co-captains for the 2022/23 season. Wilson told The Pick and Roll “I don’t take that role lightly. I’ve been around long enough that I should be able to impart some experience to the team, especially the younger players. My goal, first and foremost, is to lead by example. I think team chemistry is a huge part of why you win a championship. It’s integral to that. You need everyone to buy in and have the same common goal to work towards; it’s a huge part of it.”24

On combining playing basketball in the WNBL with being a school teacher at a high school in Bendigo Wilson told The Pick and Roll “I’ve been fortunate to have the same job in Bendigo for quite a long time now. I teach some great kids, and I love my job. It’s all about balance. I quite enjoy the fact that I have something outside basketball to focus on, but it is difficult at times.”25 Many of Wilson’s skills from basketball including teamwork, leadership and resilience are transferrable to her role as a school teacher.

In Bendigo’s opening game of the 2022/23 season against former team the University of Canberra Capitals on the road at the National Convention Centre on 4 November Wilson made four of five field goal attempts at an accuracy of 80%, scored eight points, made a game-high and equal season-high nine assists and an equal game-high three steals in Bendigo’s 105-85 win.

Kelly Wilson playing for Bendigo Spirit against Melbourne Boomers on 22 January 2023 at Melbourne Sports Centres Parkville 

During Series 9, Episode 2 of Basket Case podcast published on 9 November 2022 Wilson commented “It has been great to follow through with that core group from the Braves following on to the Spirit. We have been pretty fortunate to have a pretty uninterrupted pre-season. I know a lot of clubs have had a lot of disruption obviously with the World Cup, imports and all things like that but we have been really fortunate at Bendigo to not have too many disruptions so far.” On the Spirit roster for 2022/23 Wilson commented “They had a great core group that have come back from last year which has obviously helped. Adding in a few players to the mix Kels, myself, Abbey and also we have a whole new coaching staff, Kennedy and we have a wide array of Assistant Coaches, that’s been an adjustment for everyone but so far so good.”

At time Wilson was on Basket Case Bendigo had won their first two games of the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season. The Spirit continued in great form and won their first seven games of the season from 4 November to 14 December to set a club record for their best start to a season. Bendigo had their first loss of the season in a home game against Southside Flyers on 23 December.

Kelly Wilson playing for Bendigo Spirit against Southside Flyers on 6 January 2023 at the State Basketball Centre 

In a road game against the Melbourne Boomers on 22 January at Melbourne Sports Centres Parkville Wilson played a pivotal role in Bendigo recording a five point victory, 81-76. Wilson scored a team-high and season-high 19 points, shot at 46.7% from the field, made two of five three-pointers at 40%, made all three free throws and had three assists. The road victory against Melbourne improved  Bendigo’s record to 11 wins and four losses.

Kelly Wilson about to shoot a three-pointer for Bendigo Spirit against Melbourne Boomers on 22 January 2023 at Melbourne Sports Centres Parkville 

Due to a hamstring injury Bendigo captain Griffin only played one of the club’s last eight games of the season. Bendigo’s form fell away late in the season and they lost their last six games of 2022/23 to finish in fifth place with 11 wins and 10 losses, two wins behind the fourth placed Perth Lynx. Wilson played 20 of a possible 21 games for Bendigo in 2022/23 and averaged 7.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Wilson ranked third in the league for assists per game and equal 13^th for steals. Wilson had at least five assists in 14 games. In all nine seasons that she played from 2013/14 to 2022/23 Wilson ranked in the WNBL’s top seven for assists per game.   

Kelly Wilson playing for Bendigo Spirit against Southside Flyers on 6 January 2023 at the State Basketball Centre 

On 17 August 2023 Bendigo Spirit announced that Wilson had signed with the club to play her 21^st season in the league in 2023/24. Wilson commented on Bendigo’s 2022/23 season to WNBL Media “Most definitely, the way we started the season wasn’t the same as the way we ended. It was certainly a disappointing finish to our season and the form that we started it with. Several factors like injury and stuff like that happened and you never want to finish a season without playing finals or playing your best basketball, that was probably the disappointing part. The opportunity to play for Kennedy (coach Kennedy Kereama) and play with Kels (Kelsey Griffin) again were two of the main reasons why I decided to come back.”26

Wilson was one of six players on Bendigo’s 2022/23 main roster that returned to the club for 2023/24 along with Alicia Froling, Kelsey Griffin, Sophia Locandro, Abbey Wehrung and Ally Wilson. The four off-season recruits on Bendigo’s 2023/24 main roster are import duo Ruth Davis and Mehryn Kraker along with Casey Samuels and Esra McGoldrick. Kelly Wilson is one of three players along with Griffin and Kraker in Bendigo Spirit’s leadership group for the 2023/24 season. Griffin was appointed as Bendigo captain.

Bendigo Spirit team huddle before the game against Townsville Fire on 7 January 2024 at Geelong Arena

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On the eve of the 2023/24 season commencing Milestones and Misses published a Comprehensive guide to player movement and main rosters for the 2023/24 Cygnett WNBL season. The comprehensive guide provides details on the player movement and main rosters from a league wide perspective and then looks at these two aspects for each of the eight WNBL clubs. The club section includes player profiles on every player on a main roster as at 30 October 2023. A profile on each club’s Head Coach is also included. A link is below:

Comprehensive guide to player movement and main rosters for the 2023/24 Cygnett WNBL season

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In Bendigo’s Round 2 home game against Sydney Flames at Mildura Sporting Precinct on 10 November Wilson reached two significant milestones. With her fifth point of the game Wilson reached 3,500 career points in the WNBL. Later in the game Wilson recorded the 1,500^th assist of her WNBL career with assist number three of the game. Wilson was the third person in WNBL history to reach 1,500 career assists, joining Kristen Veal (1,617 assists) and Kristi Harrower (1,503).

A week later Wilson commenced the game against Perth at Bendat Basketball Centre on Friday night 17 November on 1,500 career assists. With two minutes and 25 seconds left in the second quarter Wilson provided an assist for a Ruth Davis lay up to record her fourth assist of the game and  increased her tally to 1,504 career assists. WNBL games-record holder Wilson moved up to second place on the WNBL’s All-Time career assists list, overtaking former Bendigo Spirit teammate Harrower. Wilson finished the road game against Perth with a game-high six assists.

Wilson and Harrower were teammates at Bendigo Spirit for seven seasons from 2008/09 to 2014/15 which included Bendigo winning back-to-back WNBL Championships in 2012/13 and 2013/14. Veal and Harrower both have coaching roles in the WNBL in 2023/24, Veal is the Head Coach of the University of Canberra Capitals and Harrower is an Assistant Coach of the Deakin Melbourne Boomers.  

Kelly Wilson shooting a three-pointer for Bendigo Spirit against Sydney Flames at Red Energy Arena on 25 November 2023  

With her first steal in Bendigo’s Round 6 road game against Southside on 9 December Wilson moved up to 10th place on the WNBL’s All-time steals list, recording the 427^th steal of her career to overtake Belinda Snell on 426 steals. Snell and Wilson were teammates at two WNBL clubs, Sydney Flames and Bendigo Spirit.

On 17 December Wilson made the 400^th three-pointer of her WNBL career, being the ninth player in the league’s history to achieve this feat. Wilson achieved the milestone with her first made three-pointer of the Round 7 home game at Red Energy Arena against Southside Flyers.

Wilson moved up to ninth place on the WNBL’s All-Time Steals list overtaking former Bendigo Spirit teammate Kristi Harrower (429 steals) in Bendigo’s Round 8 road game against Sydney on 22 December. With her first steal in the game Wilson increased her career steals tally to 430.

Kelly Wilson playing for Bendigo Spirit against Melbourne Boomers on 30 December 2023 at Melbourne Sports Centres Parkville

On the road against Melbourne Boomers at Melbourne Sports Centres, Parkville on 30 December Bendigo led by a point late in the fourth quarter. With 12 seconds left in the term Bendigo had possession from the sideline, the ball was inbounded to Kelly Wilson who was fouled. Wilson made two free throws with 9.6 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to extend the Spirit’s lead to three points in what was the final score of the game with Bendigo having an 81-78 victory. Wilson finished the game with a season-high 11 points shooting at 50% from the field.

Kelly Wilson at the free throw line about to extend Bendigo Spirit’s lead in the final 10 seconds of their game against Melbourne Boomers on 30 December 2023 at Melbourne Sports Centres Parkville

In a video published by Bendigo Spirit on Instagram on 12 January 2024 Wilson commented “Motherhood has changed me as a person very, very much, definitely gives you perspective and whilst I obviously love playing basketball, there’s more important things at home.”

Kelly Wilson and teammate Esra McGoldrick before Bendigo Spirit’s game against Townsville Fire on 7 January  2024 at Geelong Arena  

In a 96-68 home victory against Adelaide Lightning on 10 January Wilson made two of two three-pointers, scored eight points, took five rebounds and made five assists. Against UC Capitals in an 88-66 victory in a home game at Red Energy Arena on 14 January Wilson scored six points, took two rebounds and made a game-high and season-high seven assists. From 10 January to 30 January Bendigo had five victories from six games to remain in finals contention. Due to a FIBA window for the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments no WNBL games were played from 1 to 14 February. 

In the first game of Round 14 on Thursday 15 February point guard Kelly Wilson creates history by becoming the first player in league history to play 450 WNBL games, reaching the significant milestone in Bendigo Spirit’s road game against UC Capitals at Southern Cross Stadium. Teammate Kelsey Griffin will be playing her 150^th club game for Bendigo. During Griffin’s first stint at Bendigo, teammate Wilson played a role in helping Kelsey rediscover her passion for basketball. Being able to play alongside Griffin over the last few seasons has contributed to Wilson continuing to enjoy playing basketball. It is great timing that Wilson and Griffin will share a significant milestone with each other.

Kelly Wilson and Kelsey Griffin providing autographs for Bendigo Spirit fans after the game against Townsville Fire on 7 January  2024 at Geelong Arena  

February 2021

Wilson had played 395 WNBL games when she had her son Ted in February 2021, and was unsure if she would continue playing basketball. Wilson’s competitive spirit kicked in, she returned for Bendigo Braves in the NBL1 and has played three more WNBL seasons. It is a remarkable feat that Wilson will play her 450th WNBL game tonight. Wilson has played 55 games more than the previous WNBL games record holder Bibby and is 72 games ahead of Rachael Sporn and Lucille Bailie in equal third place on 377 games.

Below is a list of the top 10 on the WNBL’s most games played list, the tallies for second ranked Bibby down to 9th ranked Hill are as per page 13 of the Cygnett WNBL Season 23/24 Media Guide.28

WNBL Games Played

Player     Games

Wilson, Kelly   449*

“Bibby, Jessica   394

Bailie, Lucille   377

Sporn, Rachael  377

Dalton, Karen   375

Veal, Kristen    372

Maher, Robyn   369

Wilson, Carly   363

Hill, Jo      351″

Cayla George   349*

*The games tally for current players Kelly Wilson and Cayla George is at 1 February 2024

Cayla George and Kelly Wilson playing for Townsville Fire against Melbourne Boomers at the State Basketball Centre on 26 November 2017

In game 3 of the 2017/18 WNBL Grand Final on 21 January 2018 Wilson played her 350^th WNBL game, becoming the ninth player in league history to reach this milestone. Three days after Wilson’s 450^th WNBL game one of her teammates from Townsville Fire’s 2017/18 championship, Cayla George will become the 10^th player in league history to reach 350 games.  

During SEN’s The Run Home with Andy & Gazey episode on 9 February 2024 Andrew Gaze asked “Where are you at as far as your long-term goals?” Wilson responded “I do not have a single long-term goal at this stage of my career. I go from week to week and if I feel good at the end of the season I might play again the next season but it is literally as far as I think ahead.”

With two rounds remaining in the 2023/24 Cygnett WNBL season Bendigo are fifth on the ladder with nine wins and nine losses. Townsville are on top of the ladder with 13 wins and five losses to  lock in a finals berth. The three teams from second to fourth all have 11 wins, Southside Flyers (11 wins, seven losses), Melbourne Boomers (11-8) and Sydney Flames (11-8). Sixth placed Perth Lynx (9-10) are also in finals contention. Adelaide Lightning (6-13) and UC Capitals (4-14) are unable to make the finals.

Bendigo play two road games in Round 14 with Wilson’s 450^th WNBL game on Thursday 15 February followed by a game against Townsville Fire at the Townsville Entertainment Centre on Sunday 18 February. Bendigo’s final game of the regular season is at home on Saturday 24 February at Red Energy Arena against Perth Lynx. If Bendigo were able to win their last three games of the season they would improve their record to 12 wins and nine losses.

During SEN’s The Run Home with Andy & Gazey episode on 9 February 2024 Andrew Gaze asked “Let’s just focus in right now on the job that is currently at hand because I am looking at the table here, the Spirit are 9 and 9, you have got three games left, do you still dare to dream, are you still thinking that you make the playoffs?” Wilson responded “Of course we do, we have too right. Obviously it is a big job ahead of us but we have got three games left and the attitude going into it is just control the controllables right. All we can do is turn up to every game we play for the rest of the season and try and win. I think when you try and look a bit beyond that and start focusing on that other teams lose to one another it is tough so control what you can.”

In an article written by Will Crouch and published by The Pick and Roll  Wilson commented on her longevity “These days I don’t have as much time on my hands for recovery, but to be honest, at about the middle of my career I realised how important it was for strength and conditioning, and cross training… Being able to stay in shape but not put as much load through your body on a basketball court. That’s probably something that I think has helped me to be around to this day. But sometimes I think it’s just a bit of luck as well.”27

In 2023/24 Wilson is averaging 27.9 minutes per game, ranked third at Bendigo and is one of five players averaging more than 25.0 minutes per game along with Ally Wilson (31.9 minutes), Kraker (29.6), Griffin (27.3), and Wehrung (25.9). Another three players Alicia Froling, Davis and Samuels average between 15.0 and 23.0 minutes per game. Kelly Wilson has started 12 of her 18 games for Bendigo in 2023/24.

Kelly Wilson passing to Alicia Froling during Bendigo Spirit’s game against Townsville Fire on 7 January  2024 at Geelong Arena  

Wilson has played all 18 games for Bendigo in 2023/24 and is averaging 4.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 0.7 steals and 27.9 minutes per game. Wilson ranks 16^th in the league for assists per game and has made 19 of 22 free throws at an accuracy of 86.14%. Among players that have attempted at least 10 free throws Wilson ranks 12^th in the WNBL for free throw accuracy.

Kelly Wilson during the warm-up for Bendigo Spirit’s game against Southside Flyers on 17 January  2024 at Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre 

Epilogue

Kelly Wilson started playing basketball as a child because her friends were playing and she didn’t want to miss out. Whilst much has changed in her basketball journey from juniors, through to state league level and playing in the WNBL friendship has remained a major component all the way through. On the highlights of her basketball career Wilson told SEN Breakfast on 4 January 2022 “Obviously the championships. I look back on my time when I was in Bendigo for a really long time and the club had come from the inception of the club and we won those two championships, they’re really special. The other two were really meaningful but the most important part for me has been the friends and people I have met along the way. I have got lifelong friends from just playing basketball so the fact that I am still best friends with some of the players that I was playing with in under 14’s that’s what I am really going to take out of this journey.” 

As a junior Wilson identified that she didn’t have the ideal prototype body for a basketballer and the best way to differentiate herself from her peers was through her work ethic. This enabled Wilson to make the most of her opportunities, excel in her role as a guard and contribute to the success of her basketball teams. In an incredible 21 season WNBL career Wilson has played 449 games, scored 3,573 points, taken 1,493 rebounds, made 1,550 assists, 433 steals and 405 three-pointers. Wilson holds the WNBL’s All-Time games record, ranks second for assists and ninth for steals and three-pointers which highlights the outstanding level of performance she has delivered over an extended period of time.

Throughout her career to date Kelly Wilson has made a massive contribution to Australian basketball, both in the WNBL and at state league level. Wilson has played in four WNBL championships, back to back with the Bendigo Spirit in 2012/13 and 2013/14 followed by 2017/18 with Townsville Fire and 2018/19 with University of Canberra Capitals. Wilson has also excelled at state league level to win four MVP awards, the QABL 2008 MVP, the SEABL MVP Award in 2009 and 2013 and the NBL1 MVP Award in 2019.

It is an incredible feat by Bendigo Spirit guard Kelly Wilson to play her 450th WNBL game tonight. Ingredients in Wilson reaching this phenomenal milestone have been her high work ethic, having a versatile skill-set, high basketball IQ, competitiveness, enjoying herself and sharing experiences with friends.

Writing and photographs by Dean Andrews

Twitter – @DeanAndrews7777

References

1 https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/kelly-wilson-games-played-record/

2 https://bendigobraves.nbl1.com.au/news/madame-basketball-returns-to-the-braves

3 Women’s National Basketball League, Media Guide WNBL 2012/13, page 39

4 https://www.smh.com.au/sport/basketball/bendigo-spirit-guard-kelly-wilson-reaches-300-wnbl-games-as-melbourne-boomers-come-to-town-20151211-gllbsx.html

5 https://pickandroll.com.au/p/wnbl-201415-preliminary-final-brave-bendigo-hunt-third-consecutive-title

6 https://www.smh.com.au/sport/basketball/bendigo-spirit-guard-kelly-wilson-reaches-300-wnbl-games-as-melbourne-boomers-come-to-town-20151211-gllbsx.html

7 https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/broken-ankle-floors-fire-wnbl-star-wilson/5cf840h4t

8 https://wnbl.basketball/townsville/news/wilson-named-player-week/

9 https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/kelly-wilson-350-game-milestone/

10 https://wnbl.basketball/bendigo/news/wnbl-life-member-returns-to-bendigo/

11 https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/kelly-wilson-games-played-record/

12 https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/kelly-wilson-games-played-record/

13 https://www.basketballvictoria.com.au/news/kelly-wilson-has-golden-hands

14 https://nbl1.com.au/news/how-kelly-wilson-continues-to-dominate

15https://nbl1.com.au/news/how-kelly-wilson-continues-to-dominate

16 https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/games-record-holder-kelly-wilson-returns-for-round-1/

17 https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/games-record-holder-kelly-wilson-returns-for-round-1/

18 https://wnbl.basketball/uc-capitals/news/kelly-wilson-returns-to-uc-capitals/

19 https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/kelly-wilson-makes-wnbl-history/

20 https://wnbl.basketball/blog/news/kelly-wilson-makes-wnbl-history/

21 https://wnbl.basketball/bendigo/news/kelly-wilson-is-coming-home/

22 https://wnbl.basketball/bendigo/news/bendigo-spirit-future-locked-in-for-another-10-years-sen-to-acquire-licence/

23 https://wnbl.basketball/bendigo/news/bendigo-spirit-future-locked-in-for-another-10-years-sen-to-acquire-licence/

24 https://pickandroll.com.au/p/why-the-record-breaking-kelly-wilson

25 https://pickandroll.com.au/p/why-the-record-breaking-kelly-wilson

26 https://wnbl.basketball/bendigo/news/record-breaking-kelly-wilson-locked-in-for-21st-wnbl-season/

27 https://pickandroll.com.au/p/magnificent-milestones-celebrating

28 Women’s National Basketball League, Cygnett WNBL Season 23/24 Media Guide, page 13