How United revived Loe's career

Friday, December 20, 2024

“I said no a few times and then he finally twisted my arm a little bit and I ended up here."

If it wasn’t for Melbourne United head coach Dean Vickerman, 33-year-old big man Rob Loe would still be a retired professional basketball player.

The New Zealand native said goodbye to the NBL 18 months ago but in reality, it turned out to just be a 'see you soon', even if he didn't know it at the time.

Thanks to a strong relationship with Dean Vickerman, Loe was convinced to sign as an injury replacement player last season with United, before he was offered a full-time contract and is now a key cog in Melbourne's starting line-up.

“Throughout that month (after he announced his retirement), Deano (Dean Vickerman) hit me up three or four times and asked if I wanted to come for a short stint,” Loe told Code Sports.

“I said no a few times and then he finally twisted my arm a little bit and I ended up here.

“It wasn’t too much of a pitch, I’ve got a pretty good relationship with him (Vickerman) ever since he was with the Breakers and I was a young guy training with them when I was in high school."

Rob Loe with the poster on the youngster 🤯

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Vickerman and Loe go way back to the beginning of his career, training with the club in his high school days when Vickerman was assistant coach of the New Zealand Breakers.

Now, under the same coach, Loe is in career-best form, averaging 11.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. He has scored in double-digits in the past eight games, including hauls of 30 and 25 points.