Kouat Noi ready to taste Championship success once again in a fresh NBL25 season with the Sydney Kings

6 days ago

4 min read

Whilst it may not be Championship or bust for Kouat Noi and the Sydney Kings, it is definitely the goal on their minds for NBL25

After a disappointing NBL24 season which saw the Sydney Kings drop from, NBL Champions to Play In Game losers, Kouat Noi is ready to taste the success of the games most wanted reward... another Championship.

Kouat Noi has a story of determination, strength and hope. From being born and growing up early on in Khartoum, South Sudan at the peak of the countries second cival war, his family would decide to flee their homeland in search of saftey, secruity and better oppourtunities. The Noi family would arrive in Newcastle, Sydney in 2002 and Kouat would instantly fall in love with the country and the game of basketball in 2005.

My earliest memories of playing basketball was 2005, my dad introduced us to basketball and nailed a hoop in our backyard.

His father would spend countless hours training Kouat and his brother, prefecting form, teaching them moves and making them compete against one another to learn the tough mindset and will to win they would need in their future journeys. Whilst Kouat would struggle to beat his talented older brother Dhiu, it would be these moments in which shaped Kouat to be the player he is today.

He would continue to apply his talents and before he knew it would be playing for Australia at the 2014 Under-17s FIBA World Championships where he averaged 9.1 PPG and 4.3 RPG, helping the team win a silver medal. The second biggest move in his life would come in 2014 where he decided to make the move to America to play for the highly decorated, Monteverde Academy. His development and the level of competition would rise quickly and in his senior season he would finish up averaging 19 PPG.

Some of his fondest memories though were playing with lifelong friend and fellow Australian, Ben Simmons. The Simmons family really took Kouat into their family and made the transition very easy, providing transport, support and love, Kouat still attributes some of his success to them to this day.

Me and the Simmons family have a great connection, Dave Simmons is a great mentor and father figure of mine.

After his two years at Monteverde Academy it would be off to Texas Christian University to continue his development and enhance his chances of making it to the NBA. He would have two great seasons there and would finish off in his second season with averages of 13.9 PPG and 4.9 RPG, before declaring and eventually withdrawing from the NBA Draft.

He would then turn his attention back home and after some interest would decide to sign with the Cairns Taipans in the NBL. In his first season he would average 9.5 PPG and 5.7 RPG, which was his best statistically season as a Taipan but in the NBL22 season his season would be effected as a result of a MCL injury which ruled him out for 12 weeks. As a team the Taipans never really had much success on the court and at the conclusion of the NBL22 season, Kouat would turn all of his attention to the NBL1 North competition.

He would join the USC Rip City in the NBL1 North competition and would have a sublime season, ending up with MVP honours and All-Star five honours for the team. It was an offseason in which showed Kouat that he belonged at the top level and really gave him the boost of confidence that was needed to ignite interest from some NBL teams. He would eventually sign with the Sydney Kings who were fresh off of a NBL Championship and were eager for more success.

Kouat would join the Sydney Kings and at the conclusion of the NBL23 season they would walk away Champions once again completing a Back to Back run in which are some of the toughest achievements in professional sports. Kouat would play an important role for the Kings and would finish the season with averages of 7.9 PPG and 3.7 RPG. The NBL 24 season would not be the same though as the team faced lots of player turnover, a new coach and not a lot of success on the court. With the hope of completing a Three Peat at the end of the season, it would end in a Play In game against the New Zealand Breakers.

Looking ahead though Kouat has spent a lot of his pre season fine tuning his game spending time in the NBL 1 North competition once again, this time for the Darwin Salties and time with the South Sudan basketball team where unfortunately he was one of the last cut from the squad to go to Paris for the Olympic games. He has since signed a three year extension with the Sydney Kings which gives him three more years to try and add to the Championship cabinet and further develop his game and legacy in the NBL.

It will be an interesting watch this upcoming season for Kouat Noi and the Sydney Kings but one thing that is for sure, is that it is going to be fun. With a lot of exciting players and a legendary coach, the NBL25 season is one where most have tipped the Kings to go all the way. Kouat will be a major part of it all and it's going to be exciting to watch it all from a far.