Nick Kay


Nicholas Colin Kay is an Australian professional basketball player for Real Betis of the Liga ACB. He is also a member of the Australian national team.

Early life

Kay grew up in Tamworth, New South Wales, and at aged 17, he moved to Sydney to attend Newington College, where he was selected to the Australian under 19s team.

College career

Kay played college basketball in the United States for the Metropolitan State University of Denver from 2011 to 2015. Teaming up with countryman Mitch McCarron, Kay helped lead the Roadrunners to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments and a national runner-up finish in 2013. Kay was twice named first-team All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and in 2014 was Most Valuable Player of the RMAC Tournament.

Professional career

In 2014 and 2015, Kay played in the Queensland Basketball League for the Northside Wizards.
In July 2015, Kay signed with the Townsville Crocodiles. He appeared in all 28 games for the Crocs in 2015–16 and ranked top-20 in the NBL for minutes played. He averaged 10.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game, while scoring in double figures on 16 occasions, recording three double-doubles and finishing as the league leader in offensive rebounding. He was subsequently named NBL Rookie of the Year.
After a stint in New Zealand with the Southland Sharks, Kay joined the Illawarra Hawks ahead of the 2016–17 NBL season. He helped the Hawks reach the grand final in 2017 and then returned to the Sharks for a second season.
On 20 April 2018, after two seasons with the Illawarra Hawks, Kay signed a three-year deal with the Perth Wildcats. In February 2019, he became just the 12th Wildcat to be named in the All-NBL First Team. In March 2019, he won his first NBL championship as a member of the Wildcats.
On 9 April 2019, Kay signed with the Wellington Saints for the 2019 New Zealand NBL season.
With the Wildcats in 2019–20, Kay was named to the All-NBL First Team for the second straight year and helped the team return to the NBL Grand Final. In game three of the grand final series against the Sydney Kings, Kay had a career-best game with 30 points and seven 3-pointers to go with 12 rebounds and four assists in a 111–96 win.
On 4 May 2020, Kay opted out of the final year of his contract with the Wildcats to pursue international opportunities after the NBL implemented salary cuts due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 5 July 2020, Kay signed with Real Betis of the Liga ACB.

National team career

After playing for Australia's youth teams previously, Kay was named to the Australian national team for the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup. In 2018, he won a gold medal with Australia at the Commonwealth Games.