Kirk Penney

Kirk Samuel Penney (born 23 November 1980) is a New Zealand professional basketball player who currently plays for the Illawarra Hawks of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). During an outstanding college career with the University of Wisconsin, Penney helped the Badgers to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in his senior year and two Big 10 conference titles, and was twice named all-conference. He represented New Zealand at the Sydney Olympics and averaged 16.9 points at the World Championships at Indianapolis in 2002. He became the second Kiwi in the NBA when he appeared briefly for the Miami Heat in 2003, and has since played professionally in Spain, the NBA Development League, Israel, Lithuania, Germany and Turkey. He was also named New Zealand NBL Rookie of the Year in 1998 when he helped North Harbour to the grand final.

Early life

Born in the Auckland suburb of Milford, Penney attended Westlake Boys High School and played junior basketball for the North Harbour Basketball Association, joining their New Zealand NBL team, the North Harbour Kings, in 1998 as a 17-year-old. He earned NZNBL Rookie of the Year honours that year and helped the Kings reach the grand final. He played a further season for the Kings in 1999 before leaving for the United States to begin his college career with the University of Wisconsin.