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Perth Wildcat’s explosive power forward, Jesse Wagstaff, has been named by the National Basketball League as the 2010 NBL Rookie of the Year.

Wagstaff took out the award after polling 59 votes, comfortably beating Wollongong’s Tim Coenraad (47) and Chris Molitor of Adelaide (24). He received 19 out of the possible 21 first-place votes.

The former Metro State NCAA star averaged nine points and 3.5 rebounds per game coming off the bench for the Wildcats and his contributions helped Perth to win their fifth NBL Championship.

In his NBL debut Wagstaff looked comfortable scoring 10 points and collecting four rebounds in his 15 minutes on the floor. In one of Perth’s crucial games towards the end of the regular season, Wagstaff had a season high 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting and five rebounds, helping Perth take out Melbourne 94-78.

Previous winners of the rookie honour have included Andrew Gaze, Sam Mackinnon, Andrew Vlahov, Shane Heal, Matt Nielsen, John Rillie, Brad Newley, Joe Ingles and Nathan Jawai.

The Rookie of the Year Award is determined by a 3-2-1 vote of all league head coaches and captains and one assistant coach per club, with voters excluded from voting for members of their own team.


2010 NBL Rookie of the Year Voting

Jesse Wagstaff (Perth) 59

Tim Coenraad (Wollongong) 47

Chris Molitor (Adelaide) 24

Tommy Ammar (Gold Coast) 9