Stepping Up: Stoddart’s Impact on the JackJumpers’ Season

Nick Stoddart arrived at the Tasmania JackJumpers looking to prove to himself that he could be an NBL player and he's been thrown in the deep end in the back end of NBL25, and more than held his own.

Stoddart had to bang down the door for his first opportunity in the NBL in his last year of eligibility to be a development player by continuing to grow and develop across the country in the NBL1.

It was the JackJumpers that gave him this opportunity in NBL25 but when he arrived to join the defending champions there were no guarantees from coach Scott Roth that he would get on the court.

Stoddart was fine with that, after all it would only help him continue to develop anyway just by practicing alongside, and against, high quality guards in Tasmania like Sean Macdonald, Jordon Crawford and Milton Doyle.

The 24-year-old didn’t get to make his debut until Christmas Day at MyState Bank Arena, but by then he had worked hard on getting better to earn the faith of Roth and the JackJumpers coaching staff, and has earned the right to play some big minutes.

With Macdonald's season ending through injury after the JackJumpers played the Illawarra Hawks back on January 7, it's been Stoddart who Roth has entrusted to pick up a lot of those minutes and he's even started on several occasions.

Along the way, Stoddart has made some massive shots and proven he can well and truly be a shooter in the NBL. He's also getting better all the time as he gets used to the physicality, speed and pressure you have to cope with to be a ball carrier and playmaker.

Roth has been impressed with what he has seen and the only working point he sees is for Stoddart to back himself more and be more aggressive, as he's shown he can do at practice and in the NBL1.

Now ahead of the last game of the regular season in the Teal Game for the JackJumpers this Saturday night, Stoddart couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunity he's received so he can try and earn a full NBL contract next season.

"There was a chance I wasn’t going to play at all this season Scott said to me at the start of the year so there were no promises. Now being able to step on the floor has been a privilege and honour," Stoddart said.

"I'm super grateful and everything thing happened so fast, but Scott got me down to Tassie and it's been a hell of a ride. I'm super grateful for it and I wouldn’t trade it for anything."

Stoddart has continued to grow and develop having grown up in Brisbane beginning playing senior basketball at the Brisbane Capitals. By 2021 he was putting up 20.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.7 steals in the NBL1 North.

After a couple of tough years with injury, he joined the Ballarat Miners in the NBL1 South in 2024 to be a key part of them reaching the Grand Final, and that earned him the chance at the JackJumpers.

While he always hoped he could make the leap to play the NBL, to now actually be finding out for real over the past month has been an eye-opening experience.

"Being able to hold my own out there has been a big part of my development over the last couple of years, and being able to get the chance to actually go out on the floor to prove that," he said.

"I wouldn’t say that's been a surprise, but it's brought me a bit of peace of mind that I can hold my own so I just have to focus on working hard and fighting the best I can when I'm on the court."

All Stoddart wanted to do when he arrived in Tasmania was to learn through practice what it took to compete at the NBL level. Now that he's playing too, he's trying develop quickly to try and show that he belongs at the level.

"It's just about putting the work in at practice and making a step up over the past couple of months, and then being able to translate that onto the court," Stoddart said.

"Scott harps on about just staying aggressive which is what I do well sometimes and I'm trying to make an impact when I get on.

"The biggest thing I've learned is that it's just basketball still at the end of the day. It doesn’t really change the way I go about it, even though obviously the level is a lot higher.

"It's definitely a lot faster and a big step up, and if you're not ready you will get eaten alive so it's all about making sure you stay ready to be a competitor."