By the age of 16, Alex Wilson had already made her Women’s National Basketball League (WBNL) debut with the Adelaide Lightning.
The proud Ngarrindjeri woman from Murray Bridge in South Australia, was introduced to basketball through her father who also played professionally.
After playing one season with the Lightning, Alex joined the NBL1’s Eastern Mavericks until 2013 before returning to the WBNL with the Townsville Fire. In both seasons with the Fire, Alex won accolades, the WBNL rookie of the year in 2013-14 and the WNBL Championship in 2014-15.
It was also during this time when Alex got her first international experience, as she won gold with Australia at the 2012 FIBA Oceania U18 Championships and then bronze at the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championships.
After leaving the Fire, Alex moved south to join the Sydney Uni Flames, playing five seasons before moving back to the Lightning briefly for the 2020 Hub season.
She won a championship with them in the 2016-17 season and also won All-South East Australian Basketball League Team honours twice during her short stints with the Launceston Tornadoes.
After the 2016-17 season, Alex won gold at the World University Games and in 2021 she joined the Bendigo Spirit. Her first invitation to try out for the Australian 3×3 squad came in 2021, but she didn’t take up the offer until 2022.
Once she did it there was an instant spark, as Alex made her Commonwealth Games debut in Birmingham for the Australian women’s 3×3 team, becoming the first Indigenous Australian to compete for Australia in basketball at a Commonwealth Games. After winning four out of their five games, Australia finished third with bronze.
The following year saw Alex win another bronze medal, this time at the FIBA 3×3 World Cup in Austria. A gold medal winner at the 2024 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup, Alex now plays for the Bendigo Braves in the NBL1.
Alex and her Paris 2024 teammates Anneli Maley, Marena Whittle and Lauren Mansfield were part of the first Gangurrus team to win a FIBA 3×3 Universality Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Victories against Kenya (22-9) and no.2 seed Canada (21-16) in the group stages set up a high intensity semi-final against Brazil (18-16) and a nail-biting rematch against Canada (19-16) in the final. It was their last chance to qualify for Paris, as they were not eligible to participate in the final Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Hungary.
Courtesy AOC
