It’s been quite a taxing year for Sam Vinson.
The Highlands and Northern Kentucky University grad has had to deal with recovering from a knee injury and eligibility appeals to the NCAA.
He recently got some relief as he’s headed to Australia to begin his professional basketball career.
Vinson signed with the Northern Star Resources Goldfields Giants. They are a semi-professional basketball club based in the West Australian regional city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. The Giants are a division of the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Basketball Association, the major administrative basketball organization in the region. The club competes in the State Basketball League of Western Australia (SBL) and plays out of the 1,200-capacity Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium. The season takes place from March through September.
“We are excited to add a point guard of Sam’s size, court vision, college experience and high character,” Goldfields Giants coach Lennon Smartt said in a news release. “Sam will be a force on both ends of the floor and we are excited to be the destination club of his first professional contract.”
Once leading the Highlands basketball team to a state championship in 2021, winning the 2021 Gatorade Player of the Year and scoring 1,791 points in his high school career, Vinson carried that success over to the Norse, scoring 1,250 points, grabbing 492 rebounds and dishing out 378 assists. His 230 steals are second all-time in program history, behind his high school coach Kevin Listerman with 304. His freshman season in Highland Heights was met with the Horizon League Freshman of the Year and a Kyle Macy Freshman All-American Team selection.
Vinson was seeking another year of eligibility with NKU this season, but was denied by the NCAA since he played in more than 30% of the team’s games in 2023-24, when he injured his knee against St. Mary’s on Dec. 21, 2023 and missed the remainder of the season.