The Albury-Wodonga Bandits have further bolstered their roster for back end of the NBL1 South season with the signing of Perth Wildcat Wani Swaka Lo Buluk.
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Swaka Lo Buluk joined the NBL powerhouse as a development player midway through the 2018-19 season and has featured in two grand final series victories for the Wildcats.
The West Australian wing opted to forgo college basketball in the United States to begin his professional career in the NBL.
He has represented Australia at under-17 and under-19 World Cups and won gold at the Under-16 FIBA Asia Cup in China.
He's not unfamiliar with the Border club, having played against the Bandits as a member of the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence.
"I found out last Saturday and it's a good opportunity to come down here," Swaka Lo Buluk said.
"NBL1 South is obviously a pretty good competition and there's a lot of NBL level players in the league.
"I just want to have fun and play hard.
"It's a good experience playing at a club like the Wildcats. They've been in the finals every year.
"It was pretty good to experience that and it helps me for the future."
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Bandits' coach Brad Chalmers said the club saw the opportunity to secure another talented ball player at the completion of the NBL grand final series between the Wildcats and Melbourne United last week.
"He's come straight from Perth this week and we got him registered and ready to play this weekend," he said.
"It was a really quick thing to be honest. The contact point with the agent was towards the end of last week and the availability was there, so we tried to work pretty quickly to tie something up.
"I think he'll add a little bit of depth to the group. Obviously for us all year we've struggled a bit in that sense with injuries and not being able to completely fill out the roster."
Swaka Lo Buluk's versatility should make him a major weapon for the Bandits.
"He's a two-three and he can sort play the one too, so he's a pretty dynamic kid," Chalmers said.
"He's represented Australia three times and been with the Wildcats for three years and won a couple of championships and getting minutes with them as a rostered player.
"He can shoot it and get on the front of the rim.
"For us we had to lick our wounds a bit as we battled and played some youth league kids to get through, but now we can bring in some high end talent and good guys who have fitted seamlessly into the program.
"We're a little bit behind the eight ball, but hopefully we'll be able to catch up a little bit and be really competitive for the rest of the year."
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