MAKING the most of his limited court time, Che Brogan was a standout as the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence (BA CoE) defeated the Albury Wodonga Bandits by 41 points in the NBL1 East Men’s over the weekend.

The Centre of Excellence had not played in a few weeks due to the Easter break and then the U19 Emu’s camp, so the team was certainly eager to get back onto the court. With plenty of young talent graduating from state junior basketball up into NBL1 level, the team is stacked for the 2025 season, and were looking to continue their red-hot start to the fixture.

It was a high-scoring start to the clash, with the CoE taking a 29-22 lead into the first change as both sides found some level of flow on the offensive end. However, the team of youngsters dominated the second term, holding the Bandits to just 10 points for the term to take a 19-point buffer into the main change, and they continued their work into the second half en route to a massive win.

With the court time shared around 12 players, Brogan was immense during his time on the floor, having a huge impact for the CoE and showing why he is considered a chance to take the collegiate path in the future.

Albury Wodonga Bandits (66) def. by BA CoE (107)

Che Brogan – 22 points, three rebounds, two assists, three steals

Combining well with Luke Fennell (24 points), Brogan was immense in his 17 minutes of court time, and was one of the standouts in an excellent team performance.

He got himself going with a nice dishout pass to the perimeter, finding CoE captain Jacob Furphy, who nailed the triple to give his side an 8-7 lead. Brogan then got involved on the scoring front with a pair of driving layups, with the second coming after a nice steal and finish in transition.

After spending a few minutes on the bench, Brogan returned to the game and picked up exactly where he left off, nailing a smooth stepback jumpshot off the dribble to extend the CoE’s lead out to five points, and capping off a strong start to the match from himself and the team.

He spent most of the second quarter on the bench as head coach Robbie McKinlay looked to share the court time given how much young talent was available. However, he returned to the floor coming out of half time, and chimed in again with a nice turnaround hook shot to ensure the CoE held the momentum despite the break.

Later in the third term, Brogan repeated his feats from the first term, poking the ball free from the opposition’s grasp and laying the ball up in transition, but this time he was fouled, finishing through contact and converting the and-one in a great highlight play.

Less than a minute later, he pulled down a defensive board and looked to push the pace in the open court. The opposition fouled him again, and it was deja vu as he still found the bottom of the net and finished the and-one as he began to truly flex his skillset.

Brogan capped off an excellent third quarter with a smooth floater in the final seconds of the period, helping his team hold a whopping 34-point buffer at the final change and showing how exciting he can be on both ends of the floor.

In a familiar pattern, he opened his account for the fourth quarter by recording his third steal of the game and finishing in transition in what was becoming a reliable source of scoring for the CoE. His team began to look to get the ball in his hands wherever possible and he rewarded the move with another hookshot and couple of free throws before heading to the bench for the remainder of the game.

In his 17 minutes of playing time, Brogan finished with 22 points on 9/11 shooting from the field to make every post a winner. At 18 years of age, there is still plenty of development to come for Brogan, and at six-foot-five with the ability to run the point guard, he is certainly an exciting prospect coming out of Australia.