Jack McVeigh

Jack McVeigh’s rise to prominence in Australian basketball came hand-in-hand with the spectacular success of NBL newcomers the Tasmanian JackJumpers.

Jack dominated the 2023-24 NBL championship series when he led the JackJumpers to their maiden title in March, just three years after their arrival in the competition.

Both the JackJumpers and Jack McVeigh made everyone sit up and take notice.

Born on the NSW north coast town of Cabarita Beach, Jack grew up on Queensland’s Gold Coast before moving to the Basketball Centre of Excellence in Canberra in 2014.

He led Queensland to second place in the 2014 Australian U20 championships, averaging 27.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.

The 203cm power forward then spent three years playing US college basketball at the University of Nebraska, averaging 7.5 points per game, before returning to Australia and ultimately signing with the Adelaide 36ers.

Jack improved dramatically in three years in Adelaide and after averaging 9.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in the 2020-21 season, he was signed by the JackJumpers for their inaugural season in 2021-22.

He played a key role as the JackJumpers reached the grand final series in their first season, going down to the Sydney Kings. Jack averaged 12.2 points and 4.8 rebounds.

His stats were again good the following season, when Tasmania finished fourth, and when they won the league at their third attempt, Jack averaged 17.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and was named the series MVP.

He was rewarded for his outstanding NBL form with selection in the 22-man Boomers squad ahead of the Paris Olympics.

Jack was the surprising stand-out as the Boomers began preparations for the Games with a 107-87 win over China in Melbourne in July. In just 13 minutes off the bench, he led the way with 24 points on 9/13 shooting, including a scorching 6/8 from deep.

"I feel like that's what I do; I back myself in," Jack said of his eye-catching display. "I'm just trying to affect winning."

Jack made his Olympic debut at the Paris 2024 and the Boomers started on a strong note, defeating Spain 92-80 in what was regarded as the toughest group in the tournament.

Losses followed against Canada (93-83) and Greece (77-71) to close the group stage, setting up a quarter-finals clash against Serbia.

The Boomers pushed the Serbians into overtime on a Patty Mills made fadeaway jump shot over the outstretched hand of Nikola Jokic, that came with two seconds left in regulation time. Serbia took control of overtime (95-90), knocking Australia out of the tournament.

Averaging 19 minutes per game off the bench, Jack connected on 52.6% of his three-point attempts and scored 9.5 points per game.