The Winnipeg Sea Bears of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) announced Tuesday the signing of 6-11 American centre Noah Starkey. The 27-year-old product of Hutchinson, Kan. joins the team after averaging 6.8 points and 3.8 rebounds through a 22-game championship run with the NBA G League’s Oklahoma City Blue this season.
A five-season professional veteran, Starkey began his career with three seasons of FIBA play in Portugal, Montenegro and Germany before returning to his home country to play his most recent two campaigns in the G League.
Starkey will join the Sea Bears for the team's home matchup with the Edmonton Stingers tomorrow night at 7 p.m.
Starkey was named Great Athletic Conference Defender of the Year in both of his final two seasons at Southern Nazarene University, an NCAA DII program in Bethany, Okla. As a true senior in 2018-19, he posted career-best averages of 15.0 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, also setting the Crimson Storm’s single-season block record with 67 on the year.
“Noah is a big, physical centre who plays hard and does traditional big man things,” said Mike Taylor, the Sea Bears’ head coach and general manager. “Noah helped the OKC Blue to win the G League Championship this season with his steady, team-oriented, blue-collar style of play. We’re excited to add Noah to our big man rotation and believe he will make a positive impact in the paint on both ends.”
“I’m excited to join the team and get to work,” said Starkey. “Winnipeg is a great organization with passionate fans, and I’m looking forward to being a part of that.”
In 2019-20, Starkey joined Portugal’s FC Porto for his first professional campaign. In eight contests for the club, he made two starts and averaged 7.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. He completed another eight-game stint the following year with KK LovΔen 1947 in Montenegro, starting three games and posting averages of 10.0 points and 6.0 rebounds.
The 2021-22 season was Starkey’s longest as a pro, as he suited up in 29 games with the Kirchheim Knights of Germany’s second-tier Pro A league. There, he averaged 7.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.7 blocks per game.
Starkey was selected by the Oklahoma City Blue with the 12th pick in the second round of the 2022 G League Draft. Splitting time that year between the Blue and the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Indiana Pacers’ G League affiliate, he averaged 5.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.5 blocks in 27 games.
Returning to the Blue this season, Starkey helped the team to its first-ever G League title in a finals victory over the Maine Celtics. In his nine starts on the season, he averaged 11.1 points per game and recorded three double-doubles, including a dominant performance of 20 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on Jan. 10.
“I think I can help the team by playing to my identity and by working to make that fit with the success the team has had already,” Starkey remarked.
The Sea Bears’ release of Byron Mullens on June 28 paved the way for the signing of Starkey, who will fill the team’s third and final American roster spot. The import trio of Justin Wright-Foreman, Scottie Lindsey and Starkey have all been added to the roster since the beginning of the season in May.
The Sea Bears will conclude their current homestand when they host the Edmonton Stingers for a 7 p.m. CT matchup on Wednesday, July 3. For tickets, visit seabears.ca/tickets.
Source: https://www.seabears.ca/sea-bears-ink-nba-g-league-champion-centre-noah-starkey