Joe Hurst

"Jumping" Joe Hurst (born East Saint Louis, Illinois), is a retired professional basketball player.

In 1982, Hurst earned a sporting scholarship with Northwest Missouri State University. In five years, he played more than 200 games, and was all-conference representative for three years. During his last two seasons he was MVP and named in the All-MIAA First Team.[1]

Hurst left Northwest in the top five in both career scoring (1,580 points) and rebounding (777). He also set the all-time mark for blocked shots with 153.[2]

Hurst commenced his professional career in Australia where he played for the Hobart Devils in the National Basketball League. With the Devils he was the NBL Most Valuable Player in 1988,[3] although he was not named in the All-NBL First Team for that year. He played again for the Devils in the 1989 and 1992 seasons.

On Hurst's appearance on the Aussie Hoopla podcast he noted in retrospect he wished he had of returned to the USA after his MVP season in Australia where he was on a number of NBA team's radars and would have likely earned a contract with an NBA team that season.[4]

Hurst also played professionally for teams in Sweden, Iceland, Croatia, Indonesia and Portugal.[5] Returning to Australia, he filled in an injury-filled roster at the Canberra Cannons for one games in 2001.

Hurst currently resides in Mildura, Australia, where he works as a Youth Justice Worker.[6]

Notes
  1. "Son of a gun!". Mildura Weekly. 17 February 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
  2. "Joe Hurst". Northwest Bearcats. Archived from the original on 2012-10-29. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
  3. NBL MVP winners
  4. Boyce, Dan (23 October 2020). "Joe Hurst (Hobart Devils) on 1980s Tassie Hoops and his 1988 MVP season". aussiehoopla.com.
  5. "Son of a gun!". Mildura Weekly. 17 February 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
  6. "NAIDOC basketball clinic a hit with community". ABC. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
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