Will Magnay is chasing the Olympic dream, with maturity and an NBL championship in hand

JackJumper Will Magnay is yet to represent the green and gold at the senior level, yet hopes his maturity, experience and an NBL championship will put him in good stead for an Olympic debut.

Tasmania JackJumper Will Magnay had never travelled so far for a training camp as when he stopped over in Los Angeles for a day with the Boomers Olympic squad.

A four day non-compulsory camp for the revised 17-player Australian squad was held in California last week, with a strong turnout including Tokyo bronze medallists Patty Mills, Matthew Dellevadova, Joe Ingles, Matisse Thybulle and Jock Landale getting back into Paris preparations.

Jack White and Dyson Daniels were also in attendance and for Magnay it was a good opportunity to get back within the Boomers four walls.

“I got one day of training with the boys but it was good to put faces to names and get to know everyone as quickly as I can in a short amount of time,” Magnay told Code Sports.

“I was obviously a bit nervous but the whole culture there is very welcoming, so I felt I could pretty quickly be myself which you don’t get at a lot of places.”

After an injury-interrupted start to his playing career, the 25-year-old is yet to represent the green and gold at the senior level but is hopeful that an NBL championship season with the JackJumpers and a level of maturity and experience would put him in a good position to book his spot on the Olympic team.

It’s a career path similar to fellow Boomer Jack White, who also overcame serious injury to work his way onto the national line-up over the past couple of years.

“We’ve had a similar trajectory, we’ve both had some big injuries and matured and figured basketball out at a senior level just a bit later,” Magnay said.

“Watching him (Jack White) operate, he’s just a worker and there’s no off switch, he plays hard all day and night and that’s gotten him really far. That’s something I can take out of his book.”

Magnay and White, who grew up together at the AIS, are both currently in the US exploring opportunities with NBA teams. Magnay is looking to revitalise his NBA career but with a changed approach to one he had when he was just starting out.

“It’s always a goal, my mindset with it all is to just attack opportunities, be grateful for them, play my best basketball and if they want to sign me, they’ll sign me, I can’t control that stuff,” he said.

“I’ll put my best foot forward everyday, be the nicest person I can and just do my best.”

Will Magnay hopes his role in the championship winning JackJumpers team will put him in a good position to make the Australian Olympic Team. Picture: Steve Bell/Getty Images

With ‘rose-gold’ becoming the theme of the Boomers’ Tokyo campaign, Magnay says the thick of Olympic planning will kick in when the whole squad is together in camp later this month.

“There have been a few conversations, the general theme being if we go in thinking what we did in Tokyo was enough we’re kidding ourselves, we need to be better so how do we grow and how do we get there and be better than we were in Tokyo.”

“But the conversations haven’t been too in-depth just yet as we haven’t had the whole squad and coaches there together.”

Magnay is also still processing the thrilling culmination of Tasmania’s title triumph. Coming off the whirlwind of a chaotic NBL finals series, the 6’10” defender admits the whole experience “hasn’t sunk in yet.”

“It was crazy. Emotional wins and emotional losses, the crowds were on the edge of their seats the whole time and you could feel the tension, it was amazing to be part of.” Magnay said.

“Thanks Jack McVeigh for hitting that three.”

Jack McVeigh and Will Magnay are riding the NBL championship and Boomers campaign wave together. Picture: Steve Bell/Getty Images

Not only a championship teammate, McVeigh joins Magnay chasing the Olympic dream this year with the Boomers, the two JackJumpers riding the wave together.

“He’s (Jack McVeigh) quirky, he has his laughs all the time but that’s just who he is, he’s being himself, and we have an environment that allows him to do that, he just thrives in it,” Magnay said.

“We were both quite nervous about making the team and the camp, but it will be cool to go into it with him and see him do his thing. We both want each other to make it, it’ll be a fun camp.

Meanwhile, Magnay is also part of a core basketball group including fellow Boomers’ squad member, DJ Vasilivic and Tokyo bronze medallist Nathan Sobey taking on a new business venture away from the court, a start up that “made sense” for the rising star.

“We’re trying to branch into the sporting market with Step One and get people on-board wearing comfortable underwear. Plus I get to do this with some of my mates so it’s exciting times.”

Originally published as Will Magnay is chasing the Olympic dream, with maturity and an NBL championship in hand