Greg Hire

Greg Hire (born 19 September 1987) in an Australian professional basketball player who currently plays for the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL). He started his NBL career in 2010–11 with the Wildcats as a development player and was rewarded for his improvement and dedication with a full contract for 2011–12.

Junior career

Hire is a product of the Wanneroo Wolves and came through the SBL before moving to the United States for a successful college career firstly at Miles Community College, and then Augusta State University where he graduated from in 2010. He helped Augusta State win the Peach Belt regular season championship and the Peach Belt tournament in 2009, and then in 2010 again led them to the Peach Belt East Division regular season championship as well as the Peach Belt tournament semi finals. He was also part of the Augusta State team that advanced to the NCAA Division 2 Final Four in 2009 and then the Elite Eight in 2010.

Hire represented Western Australia at both the under-18 and under-20 national championships and was named the SBL Rookie of the Year with Wanneroo in 2006. He was a key member of the Wanneroo Wolves team from 2009 to 2012 and starred in the SBL championship win in 2011 where he averaged 22.1 points, 17.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.7 steals a game. He took out the 2011 Grand Final MVP with 31 points and 28 rebounds in their win against the Perry Lakes Hawks.^[1]

Professional career

In August 2010, Hire signed with the Perth Wildcats as a development player for the 2010–11 NBL season.^[2] On 5 November 2010, he made his NBL debut recording two personal fouls in just over two minutes of action in a 91-85 victory over the Townsville Crocodiles.^[3]

In August 2011, Hire signed a full contract with Perth Wildcats for the 2011–12 NBL season.^[4] During 2011–12, he made 31 appearances and averaged 2.7 points and 1.6 rebounds per game but stood up when it counted in pressure moments, especially during the finals.

On 18 May 2012, Hire re-signed with the Wildcats for the 2012–13 NBL season.^[5] On 8 January 2013, he recorded a career-high 14 rebounds in a 73-67 win over the Adelaide 36ers.^[6] On 28 March 2013, he recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in a 93-65 semi-final victory over the Wollongong Hawks.^[7]

On 9 May 2013, Hire re-signed with the Wildcats on a three-year deal.^[8]

On 21 February 2014, Hire played his 100th NBL game and recorded 9 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist in a 87-75 victory over the Melbourne Tigers.^[9][10] He went on to help the Wildcats win the 2014 NBL championship with a 2-1 Grand Final series win over the Adelaide 36ers.

On 14 October 2014, Hire was ruled out for six weeks after tearing his left calf muscle at training the day before.^[11] He returned to action on 16 January 2015 in a 102-106 loss to the Adelaide 36ers,^[12][13] but was later ruled out of the Wildcats' crucial Game 2 semi-final clash against the Cairns Taipans.^[14] With Shawn Redhage also out, the Wildcats were swept 2-0 by the Taipans to bow out in their 29th straight NBL playoff appearance.^[15] He finished the 2014–15 season having played a career-low 11 games and averaged 3.5 points and 2.8 rebounds.^[16]

Personal

On 24 May 2014, Hire married long-time partner, Ainsleigh Sanders. Damian Martin was chosen by the couple as the marriage celebrant, while former Wildcats players Cameron Tovey and Brad Robbins were chosen as the groomsmen.^[17][18]

Hire is an ambassador for the Perth-based charity, Youth Focus. The charity offers mental health support to young people.^[18] Hire will soon launch Kicks 4 Kids, a project to raise money for Youth Focus.^[10]

References

External links

• Wildcats Profile
• Profile at Eurobasket.com