The Newcastle Falcons are excited to announce star swingman Ryan Beisty will return for the 2024 NBL1 East season.
Selected in the NBL1 East All-Star Five in 2022 and 2023, the home-grown hero is the first major acquisition for the 2024 Falcons, and he is determined to help the team proceed deeper into the play-offs after first-round exits the past two seasons.
“I’m really happy to be back with the Falcons and representing Newcastle in NBL1,” Beisty said.
“We’ve made the play-offs the past couple of years now and I’m looking forward to building on what we’ve done there, because the goal every year remains the same – to win it all.”
After a break-out season with the Falcons in 2022, leading the NBL1 East in rebounding (11.8 a game) while averaging 15.1 points, 4.4 assists and 2.1 steals, Beisty backed that up with similar numbers in 2023.
The 28-year-old City Limits junior averaged 14.8 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals and 1.7 blocked shots a game, posting 10 double-doubles in the process. An all-court dynamo, working tirelessly on both sides of the ball, he was desperately unlucky to miss out on NBL1 Defensive Player of the Year honours.
Beisty will be a foundation stone for new Falcons coach Josh Morgan to build his team around. Morgan and Beisty were teammates in Newcastle’s championship-winning Waratah League squad in 2018.
“We are very excited to have re-signed Ryan for the coming season. Coming off the back off two successful seasons for him personally, it was crucial for us to get that sorted,” Morgan said.
“Ryan offers so much to our group, at both ends of the floor. His versatility also gives us some flexibility with different line-ups, and he will no doubt help us strive to achieve what we want to achieve throughout the year.
“We’re very proud that he’s a Newcastle junior and he is walking proof that the effort you put into developing your game reaps rewards.”
A former Kahibah Public School and Whitebridge High School student, Beisty played all his junior basketball in Newcastle before continuing his development in the US college system at Regis University in Denver, Colorado.
Beisty had a professional stint in England for Plymouth Raiders in the 2020-21 British Basketball League, before returning home to Newcastle to fly with the Falcons in NBL1 East.
“When you have a local player as talented as Ryan, you build a team around them. Ryan brings so much to this team, and our broader program, in what he delivers both on and off the court,” Newcastle Basketball General Manager Matt Neason said.
“We’re still a way out from the start of official pre-season, but Ryan’s commitment to getting himself ready is a testament to who he is and how he prepares. What’s even more exciting is he’s involving many of our developing players so we’re seeing that culture build across the group through Ryan’s leadership.
“We had him as the league’s defensive player of the year the past two seasons. The way he protects the ring, whilst also being able to lock down smaller players, covers a lot of holes defensively.”