Tall Blacks forward Finn Delany to reunite with his former coach Dean Vickerman next NBL season

Tall Black Finn Delany is set to reunite with Melbourne United coach Dean Vickerman next season, a decade on since he lived with his first NBL coach.

A decade after he lived with Dean Vickerman as a teenage New Zealand Breakers development player, Tall Blacks national team forward Finn Delany has reunited with his first NBL coach at Melbourne United.

The club will officially unveil the 29-year-old on Thursday morning as its latest signing on a two-year deal – the second a mutual option – that brings the versatile forward back to the NBL, two seasons after he departed the Breakers for Europe.

Without Vickerman’s 2015 call, Delany’s professional basketball career might have just been a dream.

“It’s an interesting story, I was down the other end of the country and I was at university, so I didn’t really know if basketball was in my future at the time,” Delany told Code Sports.

“And then, yeah, he (Vickerman) gave me my first opportunity and gave me a room for a little while to work out and, I guess, trial as a development player.

Finn Delany will suit up for United next NBL season. Picture: AAP Image/ David Rowland

“I was a little bit reluctant at first and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do.

“Now, 10-11 years later, we’re here.

“So it’s a cool part of the business, how stories intertwine.”

Delany, whose best NBL season came during the Covid-ravaged 2020-21 campaign where he averaged 16.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists, will reunite with fellow national team star and former Breakers teammate Shea Ili at United.

He knows he’ll need to lift his game on the court – and on the links – to match his unrelenting new teammate, who is the leader of United’s defence – and its golfing troupe.

“I’m very excited to play with Shea, we came up together as development players, and we’ve had a lot of shared experience,” he said.

“The other week on the national team I was joking that a large amount of my off-season work’s got to be into my golf game so I can keep up. I’m not competing with him yet. Shili’s pretty good.”

The 200cm forward fits the Vickerman mould. He’s athletic and plays both ends of the floor. He also gives United something it lacked last season – a genuine inside-outside threat who can create his own offence.

“I’ve been in a lot of different situations the last three, four years … playing multiple positions, defending multiple positions, so I’d definitely say I’ve probably gained some versatility on both ends,” he said.

Delany lived with United coach Dean Vickerman as a teenager. Picture: AAP Image/Hamish Blair

“(I’ll bring) A lot of energy, physicality, and someone that’s just going to come in and do everything I can to contribute to winning.”

Vickerman said Delany fits the club’s culture piece, one that has something of a void with the departure of experienced NBA champion guard Matthew Dellavedova for Sydney.

Delany has a reputation for working as hard on the mental side of his game as he does the physical – and uses literature as an escape from the court.

“The mental side of anything is 90-95 per cent of the job,” he said.

“Preparing your body and preparing you're your mind going into something is huge. In my development, it’s been just delving into that and trying to stay in a better state on the court, to make better decisions.

“It’s a huge aspect of my preparation to the game and around basketball in general – and it’s Part of switching off from basketball.

“I’m definitely into literature and appreciate it. I think as you get a little bit older, it’s like you try to find those ways to get away from the game.

“When I was younger, I could play for hours and hours and hours and watch for hours and hours and hours, but reading helps me to get away.”

Originally published as Tall Blacks forward Finn Delany to reunite with his former coach Dean Vickerman next NBL season