Newcastle Falcons look to new American import for point of difference

Morgan knew the type of player the Falcons needed to help propel them up the NBL1 East ladder.

Finding one who was available and willing to take up a short-term contract was another matter.

Morgan searched the Australian player market and scoured the list of players returning from college. Nothing.

Then Falcons big man Myles Cherry suggested Leo O'Boyle.

O'Boyle, a 200cm power forward, came through the same US college as Cherry, Lafayette, before a graduate year at Penn State in the Big Ten conference.

"We are hoping to get him on a plane Thursday morning," Morgan said.

"The footage I watched of him at Penn State ... he looked confident, shot the ball when open and made the right decisions.

"He played minutes in big games for Penn State. Just getting into the Penn State program, you have to be pretty good at what you do.

"We are not expecting him to come in and score 30. But we expect him to hit an open shot and make opposition defenders stay with him, which will free up space for others.

"If we get that out of him, I will be pretty happy.

"Myles knows Leo pretty well. Having that personal reference is massive."

Cherry is in his fifth season with the Falcons after four years at Lafayette. He and O'Boyle crossed over at college in 2020.

A 203cm centre, Cherry and fellow home-grown product Ryan Beisty are the leaders of the squad.

Cherry averages 14 points and 12 rebounds a game. Beisty contributes 16 points and 10 rebounds. Kiwi recruit Francis Wineera-Mulvihill also averages 15 points a game.

Smith, a 20-year-old who played for Sacremento Kings in the NBA Summer League, was signed to rebound, defend hard and provide valuable points.

However he struggled to make an impact in five games for the Falcons, averaging two points, four rebounds and one assist.

"The stretch four shooter is what we were after originally," Morgan said. "Hopefully Leo can bring that. His coaches say he is smart and does those things."

The Falcons have recorded back-to-back wins over Manly and Central Coast to move to 11^th with a 4-6 win-loss record.

They are away to Sutherland (3-6) on Saturday night before backing up at home on Sunday against Norths (4-6).

"Leo has been working out but hasn't played for a couple of months," Morgan said. "He will have to get up to match speed pretty quickly. In the first part, we will just have to tick games off for him. Hopefully over the course of eight to ten games, the contribution becomes significantly more."