Alex Loughton

Alex Loughton
No. 40 – Cairns Taipans
Position Power forward / Center
League National Basketball League
Personal information
Born (1983-05-03) 3 May 1983
Perth, Western Australia
Nationality Australian
Listed height 206 cm (6 ft 9 in)
Listed weight 106 kg (234 lb)
Career information
High school St Stephen's School
(Perth, Western Australia)
College Old Dominion (2002–2006)
NBA draft 2006 / Undrafted
Playing career 2006–present
Career history
2006–2007 Aguas Gandia
2007–2009 Perth Wildcats
2009–2010 Ourense Baloncesto
2010–present Cairns Taipans
Career highlights and awards
  • CAA Player of the Year (2005)
  • 2× First-team All-CAA (2004, 2005)
  • Second-team All-CAA (2006)
  • CAA All-Defensive Team (2005)
  • CAA All-Freshman Team (2003)
  • Australian National Junior Championships MVP (2000)

Alex Michael Loughton (born 3 May 1983) is an Australian professional basketball player who currently plays for the Cairns Taipans of the National Basketball League (NBL).

Junior career

Loughton began to make a name for himself when he was selected in the Australian Under-20 team; he went on to average 17.4 points and 10.3 rebounds per game[1] and it was not long before scouts began to take interest in him. In 2002, he moved to the United States to play college basketball for Old Dominion University. In his first season, he started all but two games and averaged 8.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. In his second season, he hauled a career best 45 points and 15 rebounds while averaging 16.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game in 2003–04. Loughton went on to win the CAA Player of the Year and Tournament MVP in 2005. He finished his college career with 1,646 career points and 952 career rebounds; which ranks him tenth all-time in ODU scoring, sixth in rebounding and seventh all-time in CAA rebounding.[2]

In October 2009, Loughton was named to the Colonial Athletic Association Silver Anniversary team[3] for his career at Old Dominion. He was also selected to the CollegeInsider.com Mid Major All-Decade team.[4]

Professional career

Considered an outside chance to be selected in the 2006 NBA draft, Loughton had six NBA trials with the New Orleans Hornets, Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks, Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors. After going undrafted, he joined the Orlando Magic for the 2006 Orlando Summer League.[5] He later signed with Aguas Gandia of Spain for the 2006–07 season, going on to average 15.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

In April 2007, he signed a two-year deal with the Perth Wildcats.[6] In 2007–08, the Wildcats lost in game 3 of the semi-finals to the Sydney Kings. In 2008–09, the Wildcats were beaten in the quarter-finals by the Townsville Crocodiles. In May 2009, he joined the Wanneroo Wolves of the State Basketball League.[7] In five games for Wanneroo, he averaged 25.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.[8]

In September 2009, he signed with Ourense Baloncesto of Spain for the 2009–10 season.[9][10]

In April 2010, he signed a three-year deal with the Cairns Taipans. The 2010–11 season was the most successful season for the Taipans in club history, losing in Game 3 of the grand final series to New Zealand Breakers. In May 2012, he signed a new two-year deal with the Taipans.[11]

On 25 April 2014, he re-signed with the Taipans on a two-year deal.[12] In 2014–15, he led the Taipans back to the Grand Final series where they again lost to the New Zealand Breakers. Loughton averaged 11.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in 2014–15, and was recognised for his efforts in engaging with the Cairns community and local fans with the 2015 Taipans Commitment to Community and Members' Choice awards.

On 26 June 2015, he signed a new three-year deal with the Taipans.[13][14]

In March 2017, he joined the Perth Redbacks for the 2017 SBL season.[15] He helped the Redbacks go undefeated over the first four games before parting ways with the club.[16][17] He subsequently returned to Cairns in April and joined the Marlins for the 2017 Queensland Basketball League season as an injury replacement for Stephen Weigh.[18][19] Following the 2017–18 NBL season, Loughton returned to the Redbacks.[20]

On 20 April 2018, Loughton re-signed with the Taipans for the 2018–19 season.[21]

Personal

Loughton and his wife, Michelle (née McAlpine), have three children: Liam, Georgia and Ivy.[22]

References

  1. ↑ Alex Loughton – Wolves Junior Archived 18 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ Alex Loughton Stats Archived 19 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ Hodge, Loughton And Sessoms Named To CAA's 25th Anniversary MBB Team
  4. ↑ Alex Loughton Named To The CollegeInsider.com All-Decade Team
  5. ↑ Watch Alex Loughton In the Pepsi Pro Summer League With Orlando
  6. ↑ Wildcats claim coup by signing Loughton
  7. ↑ Wildcats & Boomers Star Leads Spate of SBL Signings
  8. ↑ Player statistics for Alex Loughton
  9. ↑ Alex Loughton ya está en Ourense (in Spanish)
  10. ↑ Loughton bounces back to Spain
  11. ↑ Loughton re-signs with Snakes
  12. ↑ Loughton inks two-year deal with Taipans
  13. ↑ @Loughton40 signs new 3-year
  14. ↑ Loughton extends with Snakes until 2018
  15. ↑ Loughton joins Redhage as Redbacks open season with a bang
  16. ↑ Week 3 Saturday night Men's SBL results
  17. ↑ Return home everything Loughton hoped and more
  18. ↑ "LOUGHTON TO RETURN TO MARLINS". Archived from the original on 14 April 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  19. ↑ Injury weighing heavy on Marlins
  20. ↑ "Redbacks vs Lightning". FIBALiveStats.com. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  21. ↑ LOUGHTON RETURNS
  22. ↑ Take 40: Alex Loughton
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