Larry Sengstock

HTML <h2><strong>No </strong><strong>61</strong><strong>LARRY SENGSTOCK</strong></h2>

HTML <h2><strong>6 feet 6 inch (198cm) Forward/Centre</strong></h2>

HTML <h2><strong>1980, 1984, 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games</strong></h2>

HTML <p>The Australian Men’s Basketball Team was in New Zealand in 1983 playing in the first Commonwealth Basketball Championships. They wanted to win the Gold Medal but more important they needed to beat New Zealand as the tournament was also the 1984 Oceania Olympic Qualification Final between NZ and the Australians. The Kiwis were good and had taken the Aussies down to the wire in the previous game. The big Australian forward shouldn’t have played in the final game. His ankle ligaments were badly torn. The Australians needed him and he played...virtually on one leg. His performance was inspirational and the Australians got home to win and qualify for the 1984 Olympic Games. In the change-room after the game Coach Lindsay Gaze was full of praise for the team and in a rare show of emotion his voice cracked as he turned to Larry Sengstock and praised him for his courage and inspiration for playing with such a bad injury. It was a moment that will stay with all of those there at the time.</p>

HTML <p>Larry James Sengstock was born March 4th, 1960 in Maryborough, Queensland. He grew very quickly and was 5 feet 11 inches (181cm) at eleven years of age. When he started high school at twelve he was 6 feet 2 inches (187cm) in height. At West State Primary School he was coached by Ray Alloway who coached the fundamentals of basketball and encouraged the children to play basketball.</p>

HTML <p> “Ray was a great teacher and student of the game and soon had developed a group of us who were devoted learners. He was a stickler for the fundamentals,” recalls Larry. “Growing up in a country town in Queensland, the odds of crossing paths with a highly dedicated basketball coach who was way ahead of his time in terms of his coaching philosophy would be considered extremely remote. However I was fortunate enough to do just that. My first coach from the age of eight Ray was a primary school teacher who has the passion for basketball and the desire to teach the skills of the game. There was a group of us that got swept up in Ray&#39;s squads and to his great credit he coached us all the way to win the Australian Under 16 Championships in 1975 – the first ever National Championship that Queensland won! Ray coached me right through to me being selected in the Australian Men’s Senior team in 1977. I am forever in his debt.”</p>

HTML <p>At High School Larry was also an outstanding schoolboy swimmer at the State level. He was a member of Olympic swimming coach Harry Gallagher’s Brisbane squad at that time He played his junior basketball with the Lang Park Basketball Club.Then fate stepped in. Coach Brian Kerle and the St Kilda Saints were on a “milk-run tour” of Queensland and after the Saints played a game against Maryborough Kerle invited fifteen year old Larry to come down to Melbourne to stay at his home during school holidays and work on his basketball. “So in my last two years of high school I would spend my holidays in Melbourne staying at Brian&#39;s house and training with the Saints. When I finished school I moved to Melbourne under Brian&#39;s tutelage – thanks Brian,” says Larry.</p>

HTML <p>At sixteen Larry was invited to a Queensland basketball National Squad selection camp and then to an Australian Junior Camp with national coach Lindsay Gaze.</p>

HTML <p>After finishing Year 12 at Aldridge High School, Larry moved to Melbourne to play for St Kilda and to study at University.</p>

HTML <p>In 1977 hemade his debut for the Australian Men’s Team in games against the touring Italian Perugina team. He was then selected to the Australian Men’s Team and toured to the USA and Europe at the end of the year. He was at this time still a member of the Australian Junior Team. </p>

HTML <p>His club form in Melbourne and on the tour to Europe as well as games in Australia against Czechoslovakia, Simon Frazer University and the USA Athletes in Action resulted in him being selected to the 1978 Australian Team for the 1978 World Championships in the Philippines. He was eighteen years of age and joined Phil Smyth as the youngsters on the team. The Australians finished a very creditable 7th.</p>

HTML <p>Larry was still eligible for juniors and he was chosen to play for Victoria at the Under 20 level and played on a Victorian National Championship winning team.</p>

HTML <p>Larry first represented Australia at the junior level when he was chosen for the Australian Junior Team for the 1979 World Championships in Brazil where the Australians finished in 9th position. This Australian Junior Team was the first Australian team to play in a World Championship. Larry had the rare feat of playing for his country at the senior level before representing nationally at the junior level.</p>

HTML <p>In 1979 Larryplayed for the Australian Men’s Team in games against the touring Cibona Zagreb and Colorado State University teamsbefore playing for Australia when it won the Oceania 1980 Olympic Qualification Tournament.</p>

HTML <p>The Australian National Basketball League (NBL) commenced in 1979 and Larry played on the St Kilda team that won the first NBL Championship. </p>

HTML <p>The next year 1980 was to be a big year for Larry. He played for Australia against the touring Jugoplastika, Oklahoma University and University of Puget Soundteams and he was selected to the Australian Team for the 1980 Moscow Olympics. To top a great year for Larry, St Kilda won another NBL title.</p>

HTML <p>While the 1980 Olympic Team undertook its preparation tour in Europe it waited anxiously for the go ahead from the Australian Government to attend the Games. The Government was considering the Australian Olympic Team joining the boycott of Moscow because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In the end the decision was given to the players and they opted to go to the Games.</p>

HTML <p>Being at his first Olympics was a wonderful experience for Larry. Larry comments, “I still remember when we marched into the main stadium in Moscow. The noise was deafening and the pride that I felt representing my country will be with me forever.I was lucky enough to march in the Olympic Opening Ceremony celebrations on four occasions and I can remember each one as if it was yesterday.When you represent your country at the Olympic Games you know that you have the support of the whole of Australia – an amazing feeling.”</p>

HTML <p>The Games were a bitter pill in some ways for the team as they were subject to a “contrived” result when Italy defeated Cuba by seven points to eliminate Australia from the Quarter Finals on percentages. Nevertheless the Australians played very well and finished in 8th position, their best result to that time.</p>

HTML <p>In 1981 Larry was named to the NBL First Team. That year St Kilda and Larry travelled to Brazil to play in the World Club Championships and forfeited their chances to win a third NBL title. St. Kilda finished in 6th position in the Championships.</p>

HTML <p>In 1981 Larry played with the Australian Teamin Australia against West Virginia University, Biola University, Wartburg College and the European club Belgrade Partisan. He also toured to the USA and China with the Australian Team on a six week tour. The AustralianTeam with Larry as a member won the Oceania 1982 World Championships Qualification Tournament in 1981.</p>

HTML <p>In 1982 Larry moved back to Brisbane to play for the Brisbane Bullets in the NBL. He was to stay with the Bullets for the next eight years (1981 to 1989). That same year he played for Australia against touring teams from China, Zadar and Iona University. His continued great form resulted in Larry being chosen on the Australian Men’s Team for the 1982 World Championships. </p>

HTML <p>The 1982 World Championships were held in Colombia, South America. The Championships were chaotic, dangerous, threatening and a great eye-opener. At this time the world was mostly ignorant of Columbia and in particular the crime cartels, murders and drug trafficking. Larry was a starter on the Australian Team. The Australians played exceptionally well to gain 5th place, the equal best ever result for the Australian Men’s Team at a World Championships.</p>

HTML <p>In 1983 the Australian Team played in the first Commonwealth Basketball Championships that were held in New Zealand. The Canadians won the tournament, but most importantly under Larry’s leadership and inspiration the Australians defeated New Zealand. The game against NZ in the Commonwealth Championships also doubled as the Oceania 1984 Olympic Qualification Tournament. The Australians were off to Los Angeles in 1984. In that same year of 1983 Larry toured with the Australian Team to the USA and Canada on a twelve game tour.</p>

HTML <p>In 1984 Larry played for Australia against Buducnost-Yugoslavia in Australia and was selected on the team for the 1984 LA Olympic Games.</p>

HTML <p>The Australian Team undertook a tourto Canada leading into the Olympic Games and came into Los Angeles in good health and spirits. The Aussies played exceptionally well and secured 7th position. Larry had some superb games in the tournament on defence and in rebounding. He was constantly up against much bigger opponents but his desire and toughness made him a force on the court.</p>

HTML <p>Larry was a member of the Bullets team that won the Club’s first NBL title in 1985. Basketball in Brisbane and Queensland was euphoric. That year Larry was a member of the National Team that won a Gold medal in the inaugural Australia Games. Larry toured with the National Team in 1985 on a ten match tour of the Pac 10 University teams in the USA. He was also a member of the Australian Teamthat won the Oceania 1986 World Championships Qualification Tournament. </p>

HTML <p>In 1986 Larry played for Australia against touring teams from the University of Nevada Las Vegas and Verona Italy. He was selected to the Australian Team for the World Championships which were held in Spain. The Aussies were upset in the early stages of the championships and finished in equal 13th place.</p>

HTML <p>Larry’s basketball career was still on a high in 1987 as he was a member of the Bullets team that won another NBL title. That year Larry played for the Australian Team against the Big East All Stars in five games before playing the Soviet Union in Australia in a six match series that electrified the Australian public and the media. Basketball was at a peak in popularity and Larry was at the forefront of the popularity. </p>

HTML <p>First Larry and the Australian Team(now known as the “Boomers”) had to win the 1988 Olympic Qualification Tournament against New Zealand and qualify for the Olympics. They successfully did this in 1987 before embarking on a nine game tour to Europe. </p>

HTML <p>Larry played for the Boomers in 1988 in Australia against the Czechoslovakian National Team and the Nebraska University team before playingthe mighty Soviet Union in another six game series. This series was even more successful than the previous Soviet tour and the Australian basketball public and the Boomerswere on a high.</p>

HTML <p>Larry was selected for his third Olympics when he was named to the 1988 Australian Olympic team. The Boomers played wonderful basketball in the 1988 Seoul Olympics and for the first time the men’s team made the semi-finals and finished in 4th position, a dramatic improvement on any other Olympic performance by the Boomers. Larry was at his peak in these Games. He was the team’s leading rebounder, and a leader in assists, scoring and defence. He was “the rock” of the front-line big men and he was now leading nineteen year olds Vlahov, Longley and Bradtke who were all playing in their first Olympics.</p>

HTML <p>However Larry was far from finished in his basketball career. In 1989 he moved to the Gold Coast NBL Club and stayed there for three years (1989-1991), before returning to Melbourne to join the North Melbourne Giants in the NBL for the next four years. </p>

HTML <p>His international career continued through 1989 when he played for Australia against the Kareem Abdul Jabbar touring team and the NBL All Stars. Once again he played on a winning Boomers team when they won the 1989 Oceania World Championships Qualification Tournament. Larry was selected to the Boomers team for the 1990 World Championships and the team travelled to Seattle for the Goodwill Games before travelling onto Argentina for theWorld Championships where the Boomers finished 7th. Larry had acted as Australian Team Co-Captain since 1987 and he was one of the most respected players in world basketball. </p>

HTML <p>The task for Larry was now to make the 1992 Barcelona Olympic team to become one of those rarities in Olympic sport.....a four time Olympian. </p>

HTML <p>In 1991 he played for the Boomers against Fortitudo Bologna, Italy in Australia. Then against New Zealand in the Oceania1992 Olympic Qualification tournament before being part of the Boomers team that toured to Europe for ten games.</p>

HTML <p>In 1992 Larry was a member of the Boomers teams that played against the NBL All Stars, the CBA All Stars and the touring Chinese team. Larry was then selected for his fourth Olympic Games.</p>

HTML <p>By the 1992Barcelona Olympic Games Larry was taking a “back-up” role for the new young guns Longley, Bradtke and Vlahov. His leadership and experience were still vital to the team. The Boomers again played extremely well after very limited international preparation and secured 6th place, the second best result to that time.</p>

HTML <p>Larry was now 32 years of age and his international basketball career had come to and end. He had played in four Olympics and four World Championships and had captained his country. He had played over 300 games for Australia.</p>

HTML <p>He continued to play in the NBL and in 1994 the Giants won the NBL title and Larry was now the only player in NBL history to that time to win five NBL titles. After the 1996 NBL season Larry retired from playing basketball.</p>

HTML <p>He had played 456 NBL games over 18 seasons, scored 5,466 points and gathered 3,221 rebounds. His awards included the 1979 NBL Grand Final Most Valuable Player (MVP), and the All NBL Team (1982). </p>

HTML <p>In 2001 Larry Sengstock was inducted into the NBL Hall of Fame. The NBL Finals MVP Award is named in his honour.</p>

HTML <p>After his playing basketball days were over Larry continued in sport and was a leading administrator for the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games and in 2008 was appointed the CEO of Basketball Australia.In 2012 he left Basketball Australia and continued in sports management and promotion.</p>

HTML <p>Larry Sengstock is one of the most decorated players in Australian basketball history. His Olympic and NBL records are matched by few if any players. He always led by example, was fiercely competitive, played well above his size and was and is a shining example to all Australian players who followed in his footsteps. He is the consummate example of the “Anzac Spirit” on the sporting field.</p>

HTML <p>Larry modestly comments, “I have been lucky – been at the right spot at the right time but also was prepared to take advantage of opportunities when they presented themselves.”</p>

HTML <p>Larry Sengstock was inducted into the Basketball Australia Hall of Fame in 2006.</p>

HTML <p>Larry Sengstock in action for Australia in a World Championships (L. Sengstock))</p>

HTML <p>Larry Sengstock rebounds for Australia (The Basketballer Magazine)</p>

HTML <p>Larry Sengstock jump-shot (Courtesy of Basketball Australia/Sport the Library)</p>