Geraldton Buccaneers keep adding talent with newest signing Nik DeSantis from West Adelaide

The positive news keeps coming for the Geraldton Buccaneers with the signing of NBL1 Central premiership guard Nik DeSantis.

The recruit is one of the younger signings for the squad at 25 years old and is experienced playing in Australia, coming from NBL1 Central with the West Adelaide Bearcats.

DeSantis played a big role for the Bearcats during their championship run last year when they won the NBL1 Central title. DeSantis shot 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the grand final.

West Adelaide went on to play in the NBL1 National Final, where DeSantis led the team in scoring during both their games, showing his ability to play at a high level against Australian competition.

Against the Knox Raiders, DeSantis led the way with 12 points, six rebounds and three assists, then against the Rockingham Flames he put up 27 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals.

The year before he was named West Adelaide’s team MVP for the 2022 season, averaging 22 points per game.

In a video of DeSantis posted on social media to announce his signing, the reigning NBL1 Central champion said how excited he was to join the team and had high hopes for this year.

“Hey Buccs fans Nik DeSantis here, just want to let you guys know how excited I am to come join the team in a couple of weeks time,” he said.

“I am really looking forward to meeting everyone associated with the club and being a part of the community, and getting to know my coaches and teammates.

“Hopefully we can strive for back-to-back championships for us both, and I’ll see you guys very soon.”

Buccaneers head coach Dayle Joseph said DeSantis comes with a winning background that he hopes will benefit the Geraldton side.

“He’s a six three combo guard, played at West Adelaide, they were champions in the Central last year,” he said.

“He played a big part in that, hoping he can bring something to us as well.”

The signing of DeSantis comes after Geraldton brought in imports Josh Braun from the US and Joshua Keyes from the Vietnam Pro League.